A Colonel at the Bloom of Youth: A Palace Farce and a Barracks Scandal

Morocco proudly announces to the world its greatest “military achievement” yet: the promotion of Crown Prince Moulay Hassan to the rank of Colonel Staff Officer, before he has even blown out the candles on his twenty-second birthday.

In armies that respect themselves, such a rank is earned only after half a lifetime of sweat, blood, and hard-earned experience. But in the King’s army, the process is much simpler: all one needs is to be heir to the throne, and the years are swept aside, the road shortened, and the gates of command thrown open—before one’s hands have even been dirtied by the dust of battle.

📜 In Professional Armies… A Colonel Staff Officer is Not Born, But Forged

In France, the United States, Britain, Algeria, and elsewhere, the rank of Colonel Staff Officer is not gifted—it is seized after a long and arduous journey:

The officer begins young as a lieutenant, learning how to read a map in the rain and how to sleep to the sound of gunfire.
He becomes a captain after years of toil, a field commander only when the burdens of command have streaked his hair with grey.
And he does not see the eagle of the colonel on his shoulders until he has reached middle age, burdened with memories of battlefields and records of both victory and defeat.

Average age to reach the rank of Colonel Staff Officer:

Paris: 47 years
Washington: 45 years
London: 46 years
Algiers: 45 to 50 years
Rabat: 22 years… provided your father is the king!

🏇 From the Cradle to the Field… on the Back of Ceremonies

What field? The “field” here is the parade ground of Throne Day, where the sound is not that of gunfire, but of royal marches.

His battles? Official photo ops.

His achievements? Perfecting the parade step in a straight line before the cameras.

His strategic decisions? Choosing the color of the saddle for the equestrian display.

🎭 An Army in Shiny Uniforms and Wooden Swords

With this move, the Moroccan palace sends an unmistakable message: the army is an ornament, not a fighting institution. Medals are awarded to preserve “royal majesty,” not to enhance combat readiness.

How must the Moroccan officer, who has spent a lifetime in the desert, feel when he sees a young man with no battlefield to his name outstrip him in rank and station?

It is a moral slap in the face, stripping ranks of their meaning, turning the army into a marching band in uniform.

💬 Conclusion: In real armies, ranks are the fruit of sweat on the brow and the roar of cannons. In Morocco, they are the fruit of royal lineage and palace seals. Today, he is a Colonel Staff Officer; tomorrow, he might be “Commander of the Armies of Earth and Space.” Why not? So long as heroism is manufactured in ceremonies rather than on battlefields.

By Belgacem Merbah

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