USAF Patch Med USAFE d 3906 Dispensary Sidi Slimane AB Morocco North Africa

USAF Patch USAFE 3906 USAF Dispensary Sidi Slimane AB Morocco North Africa Patch 1950s embroidered on twill cut edge 115mm x 75mm four and one half inches x three inches

Free Shipping

History

3906 USAF Dispensary was part of 3906 Air Base Group at Sidi Slimane AB in  French Morocco

Sidi Slimane AB was one of three bases commissioned by USAF Strategic Air Command  in French Morocco in response to the heightened Cold War fears by NATO after the Korean War – the other two being Boulhaut AB and Nouasseur AB. The bases provided SACs emergency war plan forward staging for bomber units deployed from the US for attacks on the Soviet Union. Constructed in 1951 Sidi Slimane with an 11000 foot asphalted
concrete runway and operational storage bunkers for nuclear weapons it was used by SACs 5th Air Division for deployments of B-47 Stratojet and B-36 Peacemaker bombers and support units bringing them into effective range of targets without the need for aerial re-fuelling.

Sidi Slimane AB was also used by USAFEs Seventeenth Air Force 17 AF which assigned 45 Fighter-Interceptor Squadron equipped with F-86D Sabres to provide air defense for the bases in Morocco.

With the destabilization of French government in Morocco and Moroccan independence in 1956 the government of Mohammed V wanted the USAF to leave the SAC bases in Morocco and insisted on this after the US intervention in Lebanon in 1958. The US agreed to leave as of December 1959 and fully withdrew from Morocco in 1963 with Sidi Slimane AB closed on 30 September 1963 handed over to the Moroccan government. The Moroccan bases had become much less critical with the introduction of long range B-52 and the completion bases in Spain.

Sidi Slimane Air Base was administered by 3905 Air Base Group and later 3906 Combat Support Group which provided and controlled all support assets for deployed units including the 3906 USAF Dispensary. 

This patch dates from the 1950s.