www.3973cds.com -Nouasseur AB-

Dallas Huts and New Barracks 1959 . When the new barracks or "dormitories" were opened in Feb 1959 the tour of duty went from 18 months to 24 months for single unattached people

Up until Ike came to Nouasseur we would shoot every month. Once the plan was to give up the base, we never went to the range as a flight. It was like no one cared anymore

USO Casablanca 1950's‏

TI's or instructors wore these on their Helmet's....and some earlier AP squadron's also used them.

Driver's school on highway between Casablanca and Rabat. Old vehicles used until December 1959

Nouasseur, Morocco Location: 18 miles from Casablanca Date of Current Name: Previous Names: Date of Establishment: Date Construction Began: 23 Apr 51 Date of Beneficial Occupancy: Dec 51 Base Operating Units: 16 Jul 51 - 8 Jun 53 80 Air Depot Wg 8 Jun 53 - 1 Mar 54 7280 Air Depot Wg 1 Mar 54 - 1 Jun 56 7280 ABGp 1 Jun 56 - 1 Jul 58 3153 ABGp (AMC) redesignated 3153 ABWg 1 Jul 58 - 1 Sep 63 3922 ABG (SAC) redesignated 3922 CSG 1 Sep 63 - 20 Dec 63 3922 ABSq (Prov) Major Units Assigned: 1 Jun 53 - 8 Mar 60 357 Ftr-Intcp Wg F-86D 4310 AD (SAC) 16 Jan 52 - ? 118 AC&W Sq 25 Jun 52 - ? 154 AC&W Gp - 63 Atlantic Air Rescue Center Cmd Post Disposition: Returned 20 Dec 63 Later named Casablanca Nouasseur Int'l Airport and then Casablanca Mohamed V Int'l Airport. ************************************************************************************* Built as SAC bomber base after French and US signed a base rights agreement for the French protectorate of Morocco on 22 Dec 50. Negotiations were more than just complicated, not only did they involve the French in Morocco but the French in Paris, the Moroccans, the Army Corps of Engineers, the contractors and US Congress. Short deployments of SAC B-29, B-36, & B-50 began soon after the base was finished. The concrete was substandard and the winter rainy seasons made many parts unusable. Congress began an investigation and no more construction was allowed. The water tower hadn't been built yet so there was no running water, the boilers couldn't be repaired so there was no hot water, there was no paved walkways (everything sunk in the mud in winter), the huts were leaky and there was little recreation as rising Arab nationalism put the towns off limits. An assistant Secretary of Defense said after a visit that it was the worst base she had ever seen. Eventually some defects were corrected. USAFE began some reconnaissance training in mid 50s and fighter training deployments in Sep 52. The base was established as an Air Depot on 1 Oct 52. The 80 ADW was charged with providing logistic support for all Air Force activities in French Morocco area, including 5 AD (SAC). In Mar 54 the depot was assigned to AMFE (Air Material Force, Europe) and two years later to AMC (Air Material Command) Morocco had long been a French colony; when it gained its independence in 1956, it sought to force both France and Spain to evacuate their forces from the country. The United States, found itself caught in the middle of the struggle between Morocco and France. In 1958 Morocco asked the United States to negotiate a basing agreement. The French insisted that they owned the base land and that the United States would have to negotiate with France. Unable to reconcile these views, the United States agreed, in September 1958, to close its Moroccan bases within five years. In fact, the withdrawal took little more than 18 months. Most American forces had left the bases by the end of April 1960 and the bases were returned shortly after. Nouasseur was returned 20 Dec 63. USAFE/HO 10 May 99

This is another photo of King Mohammed V and President Eisenhower in the Kings Limo leaving Nouasseur heading to Casablanca for meetings. This was Dec 22, 1959...the "tail" from Air Force One is on
the left.

Nouasseur Open Arena as of 1983. Moroccan took their sweet old time taking it down.

United States Vice President Richard Nixon visit Morocco and meet Sultan Muhammad Ibn Yusuf