Nouasseur Air Base Sign with lights

Nouasseur Main Gate Bus Check






Photo Credit: Sidney P. Beck CMSGT Ret. - Stationed at both Nouasseur and Moron from 1962 to 1965











































Pictures in this exhibit were taken 30 June 1963, and are in the following sequence:






Project Mercury Support Aircraft
1. Two Atlantic Air Rescue Service amphibians on hand at Nouasseur to cover the Atlantic off the coast of West Africa against a possible contingency recovery. The area covered by Nouasseur Con- trol was one of the more likely spots should a contingency recovery prove necessary.

2. The Bell helicopter tucked neatly into the C-130. Complete- ly assembled, it needed only to be rolled out and cranked up for flight. Munitions and supplies stored with this transport made it a self-containted unit for recovery of the astronaut from jungle or plain.
Another C-130 carried a pair of jeeps and other recovery equipment. Both aircraft were stationed at Nouasseur during the Project Mercury MA-9 shot.
3. Project Mercury support airplanes prepare for launch on 17 May. Three C-130 aircraft line the western end of the ramp. The Navy Neptune reconnaisances planes flew long hours to be in place for a possible contingency recovery. 
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
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