Vance IP returns to Morocco to attend T-6 acceptance ceremony

  • Published
  • By Joe B. Wiles
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
Lt. Col. Andy Hamann must have made a very good impression during his three-year assignment in Morocco. The Moroccan air force chief of staff, Gen. Ahmed Boutaleb, invited him back for the official delivery of the first of 24 T-6C Texan II trainer aircraft earlier this month.

An instructor pilot with the 8th Flying Training Squadron since October 2010, Colonel Hamann was assigned to the U.S. embassy in Rabat, the capital city of Morocco, a nation on the northwest corner of the African continent.

He was one of a few military personnel working with the embassy country team - consisting of representatives of the FBI, CIA, the U.S. Agency for International Development and other agencies that typically work in an embassy.

Colonel Hamann's primary duties included leading joint and multi-national training and exercise efforts, assisting with humanitarian efforts, working with foreign commercial services helping U.S. industries make contacts, organizing air shows as well as leading foreign military sales to Morocco.

But what got him invited back to Morocco was his involvement in the discussions that eventually lead to the Moroccans buying the T-6C trainer and F-16 Falcons.

When Colonel Hamann first arrived in Rabat the fall of 2007, the Moroccan air force was flying U.S. and French trainer and fighter aircraft that were pretty old. "They were at the point they needed to modernize," he said. "Hawker-Beechcraft makes a great primary trainer in the T-6, and that's what they chose."

The first of four T-6C were accepted by the Moroccan air force during a ceremony, Feb. 1, attended by Judith Chammas, the U.S. embassy charge d'affairs; Heidi Grant, the deputy under secretary of the Air Force for international affairs; and Maj. Gen. H.D. Polumbo, director of strategy, plans and programs, Headquarters U.S. Africa Command.

The ceremony was held in the city of Marrakech where the Moroccan air force academy is located.

"It was a distinguished-visitor intensive event," said Colonel Hamann. The aircraft, the pilots and the maintainers were there to greet the attendees. The Marche Verte, the Moroccan air force aerial demonstration team, performed a flyby.

"The Moroccan speakers discussed the significance of the U.S. and Moroccan air forces relationship and the T-6 was a symbol of that relationship," said Colonel Hamann.

"Building that relationship, and the capacity of our partner militaries, is why jobs like the one I had in Morocco exist," said Colonel Hamann. "We help build our allies' capacity so they can be our partners in training and real-world events. Good air force to air force relationships pave the way for good diplomatic relations," he said.

The Moroccan T-6s are the Navy version, with newer avionics, heads-up displays and hard-point wings so fuel tanks can be mounted under them. In July this year, the Moroccans will take possession of F-16 Falcon fighter aircraft.

"The first four Moroccan instructor pilots were trained at Randolph AFB, Texas," said Colonel Hamann. "They will train additional IPs in preparation of the first undergraduate pilot training class scheduled for August this year," he said.

Before going to his Moroccan assignment, Colonel Hamann was an F-15C instructor pilot at Tyndall AFB, Fla., and Elmendorf AFB, Alaska.

He spent a year at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., earning a master's degree in national security affairs, followed by six months of French language instruction at the Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center, also in Monterey.

Colonel Hamann was accompanied to Morocco by his wife and their four children. "We went over there not knowing what we were getting into and really had a great time professionally and personally," he said. The children attended the Rabat International School, where children of all the different embassies attended. "They studied the French language and Moroccan culture everyday for three years," the colonel said.

He compared the Moroccan climate to California. "They are at about the same latitude, with nice coastal cities, desert and mountains," he said.

Colonel Hamann took his oldest daughter with him to attend the T-6 acceptance ceremony earlier this month. "While we were there, she visited a number of old friends, and I ran a half-marathon," he said, finishing in one hour, 45 minutes.

Morocco was one of the first countries to recognize the newly independent United States in 1777. In 1787, the two countries signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which is the longest-running U.S. treaty still standing.