A week ago, two American soldiers participating in the “African Lion 2026” multinational military exercise in Morocco went missing. Last Sunday (May 10th), the U.S. military announced that the body of one of the American soldiers was found in the Atlantic Ocean, but they are still searching for the other missing soldier.
The body found by the U.S. military was that of 27-year-old Lieutenant Kendrick Lamont Key Jr. He was one of the two American soldiers who went missing while on a leisure hike near a cliff in the training area during their vacation in Morocco.
Lieutenant Key Jr. was assigned to the 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 5th Battalion, Charlie Battery, under the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command of the U.S. Army. He enlisted as an officer candidate in 2023, completed officer candidate school training in 2024, then underwent basic officer leadership training at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, where he received accolades including the Army Achievement Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
The U.S. Army Europe and Africa stated in a release that “Moroccan military search and rescue teams discovered the soldier’s body in the sea near the coastline around 8:55 a.m. on May 9th (last Saturday), approximately a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the reported location where the two soldiers went missing.”
According to the Moroccan military, the two soldiers went missing around 9 p.m. on May 2nd near the Cap Draa training area on the outskirts of Tan-Tan. The region is characterized by mountains, deserts, and semi-desert plains.
The disappearance of the two soldiers prompted a large-scale search and rescue operation involving over 600 personnel from the U.S., Morocco, and other military partners. Warships, boats, helicopters, and drones were deployed in the search efforts.
An anonymous U.S. Department of Defense official, unauthorized to speak publicly, told the Associated Press that the search for the second missing soldier would continue. The official stated, “Following the conclusion of Exercise African Lion 2026 on May 8th, a U.S. special operations team remains in Morocco to continue search and rescue operations and provide command and control.”
“African Lion 2026” is a U.S.-led multinational military exercise. It took place in April this year in four countries: Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana, and Senegal, with over 7,000 personnel from more than 30 countries participating. Since 2004, it has been the largest U.S.-led joint military exercise in Africa.
In the past, accidents have occurred during the “African Lion” exercises involving the U.S. military. In 2012, a helicopter crashed in the southern Moroccan city of Agadir, resulting in the unfortunate deaths of two U.S. Marine Corps members and injuries to two others.
(Reference: Associated Press)