CAP DRAA, Morocco - The sun barely peeked over the horizon when the stillness was shattered by the roar of artillery. Two men with ties to Carbon County crawled out of their tents into the southern Moroccan morning to begin another day.

Marine Corps Reserve Lance Cpls. Brian E. Rivera, son of Rosalind Rivera of Cedar Avenue, Jim Thorpe, and Brian Zulic, son of Michael and Marti Zulic of West Fell Street, Summit Hill, are in Morocco supporting exercise African Lion 2011."I'm a howitzer crewman," said Rivera, "I am the Marine who loads the round into the cannon.""I help fire the M777 howitzer," said Zulic, who earned an associate's degree in criminal justice in 2011 from Lackawanna College, Hazleton. "I'm also participating in joint operations with the Moroccan military."Both men are 2008 graduates of Panther Valley High School, Lansford.African Lion is an exercise between the Kingdom of Morocco and the U.S. that involves more than 2,000 U.S. service members and approximately 900 members of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces. The exercise serves as a way for both U.S. and Moroccan military members to hone their skills and learn to work together to a accomplish missions."This exercise is very exciting, and a great way to get a good look at the Moroccan culture," said Rivera a field artillery specialist assigned to India Battery, 3rd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, Reading, Pa. "We can also do a lot more training here than we can back home.""The training is basically the same, but the climate and terrain are new challenges," said Zulic.In spite of the barriers, Rivera, Zulic and their fellow servicemembers worked with the Moroccan forces on different types of military training including command post, live fire, peacekeeping operations, disaster response, aerial refueling and low-level flight training. Both the Moroccan and U.S. forces receive valuable training during the course of the exercise."I'm learning that nothing comes easy and that hard work pays off," said Rivera. "We're also teaching the Moroccans a little bit about how we work together as an artillery battery.""I'm learning a lot about how to better my gun selection," said Zulic, an artillery specialist assigned to India Battery, 3rd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, Reading. "It is a great feeling to know that while I'm learning the Moroccans are also becoming more proficient."They and their fellow service members not only trained in the Moroccan desert, they lived there as well. They experienced sandstorms, the rain showers of the wet season and the heat that traditionally goes with a desert. They even had an opportunity to spend some time off duty experiencing the culture and seeing the sights."Being here is a real eye opener," said Rivera, who has been in the military for nearly two years. "It's not at all how I expected it to be.""Morocco is a great place to train," said Zulic, who has been in the military for nearly three years. "There's a lot of open space to drill in."As the artificial thunder of artillery fire dies away for a moment, the sun rises fully above the desert horizon and begins its journey toward the nearby Atlantic Ocean. Rivera, Zulic and the other participants in African Lion 2011 go about their business sharing experiences and knowledge with each other and their Moroccan counterparts.