Morocco, US unveil 15-metre Rappel Training Tower

US and Moroccan armed forces officials yesterday inaugurated a 15-metre (50-foot) Rappel Training Tower at the Royal Navy Dive School in Sidi Kankouch, near Tangier.

A statement issued by the US Embassy in Morocco said a team from the US Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 1 worked with Moroccan Navy partners to complete construction of the tower at a cost of $710,000, noting that the US-funded project started in the autumn of 2019, but construction was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The head of the Office of Security Cooperation in the US Embassy in Morocco, LTC Teremuura Shamel, said: “This project is yet another example of the close relationship between the U.S. and Moroccan armed forces.”

“We are constantly working together to train and to prepare for any possible threats to regional stability,” he added

Morocco and US soldiers have recently participated in the Maroc Mantlet, a disaster planning exercise in Morocco, in nearby Ksar Sghir.

The US and Morocco also recently completed a six-year, $16-million programme on confronting chemical biological, radiological and nuclear threats.

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