Utah National Guard, Moroccan military strengthen cyber interoperability

VICENZA, Italy — Cyber Soldiers assigned to the Utah National Guard met with partners from the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces during a cybersecurity working group hosted in Bedford, Massachusetts, July 27-31.

The Cyber Security Working Group brought together specialists representing U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Naval Forces Africa, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), and other U.S. government agencies. The event was the second working group held in 2026 under the combined U.S. Africa Command and Morocco Command and Control Interoperability Board, established to advance cybersecurity objectives, enhance bilateral command-and-control interoperability, and strengthen secure information sharing.

The Utah National Guard contingent included personnel from its State Partnership Program office and the 174th Cyber Protection Team. Throughout the week, participants engaged with partners from the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces — known internationally as the Forces Armées Royales (FAR) — through working sessions, technology demonstrations, and capability briefings.

“This event was a step forward in improving our own cyber readiness by identifying opportunities to train with Moroccan cyber units, and we got a feel for the kinds of training and exercises they're interested in,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Robert Matheny, the Utah Guard’s State Partnership Program director.“When we train alongside our partners, it gives our cyber units a chance to sharpen their skill set in a different environment.It also allowed our people a chance to network with other U.S. cyber entities, which allows us to merge our efforts and share best practices.”

The Bedford engagement marks one of the most recent cybersecurity-focused exchanges between Utah and Morocco. In April, Moroccan military cyber personnel observed Utah’s blue team, red team, and operational technology laboratory during Exercise Wolverine, which integrated cyber warfare, joint fires, electronic warfare, and counter-unmanned aircraft systems.

“They got hands-on-keyboard experience investigating and triaging events in the blue team's security operations center,” Matheny said. “Later, they flew on Blackhawk helicopters that tactically inserted the cyber team to Central Utah Water's treatment facility where they got a tour.”

The July working group reinforced ongoing collaboration between Moroccan and Utah cyber elements. The Utah National Guard’s participation produced several follow-on initiatives and established a formal action item to expand joint exercise participation between FAR and Utah Guard units.

“Several discussions were of direct consequence to Utah,” Matheny said. “Moroccan partners asked whether National Guard cyber validation exercises, such as Cyber Shield or Utah exercises like Wolverine, could be used to validate cyber protection teams the FAR is standing up in Morocco. FAR representatives also voiced strong support to include cyber in the exercise portion of African Lion — not only in the academics portion.”

Matheny emphasized that cyberspace is not only critical to the future of warfare, but a domain in which modern service members operate daily.

“Cyber needs to be integrated so that exercises reflect real-world conflicts more realistically,” Matheny said. “When we train our partners, it helps burden shift when there is a conflict, and it allows for easy interoperability when necessary.”

Matheny added that the exchange strengthened institutional relationships that will benefit bilateral forces should they need to conduct combined operations in future contingencies. “It was helpful to get to understand a better context of what the Moroccans have learned, as well as the other U.S. elements they work with,” Matheny said.“The meeting was also beneficial in getting all entities together in the same room to talk about common goals and how we can work together, rather than working in our own isolated engagements.”

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Derek Roberts, a data operations warrant officer assigned to the SETAF-AF Command, Control, Communications, Cyber Operations and Networks Directorate (G6), also participated in the working group and the combined Command and Control Interoperability Board. Roberts represented SETAF-AF priorities in cyber training, interoperability and the integration of partner priorities into African Lion planning.

“The value of the working group was getting our Moroccan partners, cyber practitioners and exercise planners together early enough to turn shared priorities into exercise planning,” Roberts said. “We build readiness by, with and through our partners from the start — not by bringing them in after the plan is set. Working across different systems, authorities and staff processes helps us identify the practical challenges of operating together and develop solutions neither side would develop alone. Those discussions give African Lion planners the inputs to integrate cyber into the broader exercise, rather than treat it as a stand-alone academic event.”

According to Matheny, the most important accomplishment of the working group was learning how other stakeholders interface with Moroccan cyber teams. He noted the significance of discovering other exercises and training they have already experienced and planned. Utah Guard leadership expects to maintain regular training and working group sessions with Moroccan partners. “We have soft plans to attend a future cyber defense exercise hosted by the Moroccans, and we're working on inviting them to our validation exercise next year, which will be a red/blue exercise used to validate cyber protection teams,” Matheny said.

Matheny also noted that his team was working with the intent of moving cyber beyond academics and into the operations realm.

“We’re also integrating our Utah Guard cyber subject matter expert exchanges into next year’s African Lion cyber academics portion, with the goal of planning a cyberattack scenario in future African Lion exercises.”

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