Having graduated from Saumur, Hauteclocque joined his regiment, the ', which was then on occupation duty in Trier as part of the Franco-Belgian occupation of the Ruhr. Garrison duty was not to his liking, so he volunteered for service with the ', based at Taza in Morocco. He was promoted to "lieutenant" in October 1926. In 1927, he was posted as an instructor at the "Military School of Dar El-Beida" at Meknes, the military academy of French Morocco. Here, he met , a First World War veteran eight years his senior, who would later volunteer to serve under his command. In 1929, he was attached to the "38e Goum Mixte Marocains", a Moroccan Goumier unit at M'Zizel in the Atlas Mountains. He saw action in the fighting against the Ait Hammou guerrillas. In one action, two horses were shot out from under him. Afterwards, he was posted to the ", "the senior cavalry regiment of the "Armée d'Afrique", based at Rabat.