SouthernWorldwide.com – One of the two U.S. Army soldiers reported missing in Morocco over the weekend jumped into the water in an attempt to rescue the other, defense officials confirmed to CBS News on Monday.
Search and rescue operations were actively ongoing as of Monday. The incident occurred off the southern coast of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean, though it is not believed to be directly linked to the annual African Lion training exercise the soldiers were participating in.
Initial reports suggest the soldiers were on a hike to view the sunset when one of them fell into the water. Defense officials had previously indicated that the soldiers were last seen near ocean cliffs close to the Cap Draa Training Area.
When the first soldier fell, nearby service members attempted a rescue by forming a human chain using their belts, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Subsequently, another soldier entered the water to try and save the first soldier, who reportedly could not swim. This second rescuer was immediately struck by a wave, according to the preliminary report.
Both soldiers then encountered difficulties returning to shore. A third soldier then entered the water. While this third soldier was unable to rescue the other two, they managed to return to safety on their own, officials stated.
For the past three days, multiple aircraft, drones, divers, and vessels have been engaged in searching the southern Moroccan coastline for the two missing U.S. soldiers.
The African Lion exercise is recognized as the largest annual joint military operation led by AFRICOM, one of the U.S. Department of Defense’s eleven unified combatant commands. This exercise brings together thousands of military personnel from the United States, various African partner nations, and NATO allies. Their training covers modern warfare scenarios across land, air, sea, cyber, and space domains.
The soldiers were stationed at a base alongside over 7,000 service members from more than 30 different countries participating in the annual exercises.
A CBS News crew embedded with the U.S. military had the opportunity to speak with one of the technology developers involved in the exercise just hours before the soldiers went missing.
“I choose to look around and measure the work we do today as a metric for the number of lives we’ll save in the future,” 1st Lt. Vincent Gasparri had stated.
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Tragically, the future he spoke of arrived sooner than anticipated. The rescue efforts for his fellow soldiers involved the use of drones that he himself had designed.
