Airport in Sidi Slimane, Morocco
Sidi Slimane Air Base
(
ICAO
:
GMSL
)was a military
air base
in
Sidi Slimane
,
[1]
a city in the
Rabat-Sale-Kenitra
region
in
Morocco
. It is also known as the
Fifth Royal Air Force Base
,
[1]
operated by the
Royal Moroccan Air Force
.
History
[
edit
]
Built in 1951 by Atlas Construction, Sidi Slimane AB was initially used by
Strategic Air Command
(SAC) of the
United States Air Force
as a forward deployment base for
B-50 Superfortress
and later
B-47 Stratojet
units deployed from the United States.
[3]
: 57?8
The base was one of three SAC bases (
Boulhaut
, Sidi Slimane,
Nouasseur
) constructed in Morocco in response to the heightened
Cold War
fears by
NATO
after the
Korean War
.
On 13 July 1951, six
F84E
jet fighters of the
36th Fighter-Bomber Wing
from
Furstenfeldbruck Air Base
,
West Germany
, landed at Sidi Slimane marking the first USAF use of the base. The next day, as part of the
Bastille Day
festivities, this USAF aerial demonstration team known as the
Skyblazers
[
ja
]
performed precision aerobatics over Casablanca and then Nouasseur.
[3]
: 61
Host unit was the
3906th Air Base Group
Later:
3906th Combat Support Group
. Facilities expanded in the early 1950s to accommodate jet aircraft and was used by the SAC
5th Air Division
as a forward deployment base for
B-47 Stratojet
and
B-36 Peacemaker
bombers and support units during the
Cold War
.
Sidi Slimane was also used by the
Seventeenth Air Force
(17 AF) of
United States Air Forces in Europe
(USAFE), which assigned the
324th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
equipped with
F-86D Sabres
to provide air defense of the USAF bases in Morocco during the 1950s.
Sidi Slimane Air Base was the location of a
Broken Arrow nuclear incident on 31 January 1958
. A USAF
B-47
carrying an armed nuclear weapon experienced a wheel casting failure during simulated takeoff. The bomber's tail hit the runway, rupturing a fuel tank and igniting a fire. While the weapon did not detonate, the area was evacuated and the abandoned fire burned for seven hours. Some radioactive contamination was detected immediately following the accident.
[4]
[5]
[6]
Sidi Slimane AB was closed on 30 September 1963 and turned over to the Moroccan government.
[7]
Today two squadrons equipped with the
Mirage F1
, Escadron de Chasse Atlas (Mirage F1EH-200) and Escadron de Chasse Assad (Mirage F1CH) use the base.
[8]
The scale of activity has been reduced to a degree from its height under the USAF.
Facilities
[
edit
]
The airport resides at an
elevation
of 179 feet (55 m) above
mean sea level
. It has one
runway
designated 08/26 with an
asphalt
surface measuring 3,445 by 43 metres (11,302 ft × 141 ft).
[1]
The base has supported occasional deployments of SAC
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
and
KC-135 Stratotankers
over the years. A large number of tab-vees on dispersals have been built and at least one helicopter is visible parked. Condition of main runway and taxiways appear to be well-maintained. Some old USAF barracks visible and still appear to be in use to the northwest of flightline area, although most of the buildings have been torn down; the streets remaining.
References
[
edit
]
United States Air Force Mediterranean Bases
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Command
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Bases
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