Jordanian Armed Forces

History

The first organized army in Jordan was established on 22 October 1920, and was named the "Mobile Force", at the time it was 150 man strong under the command of the British Captain Frederick Peake. On its third anniversary, in October 1923, the now 1000 man force was renamed the Arab Legion.

In 1939, John Bagot Glubb, better known as Glubb Pasha, became the Legion's commander, and continued in office until the dismissal of British officers in March 1956. On 1 April 1926, the Transjordan Frontier Force was formed, consisting of only 150 men and most of them were stationed along Transjordan's roads.

The Jordanian Armed Forces was formed on 1 March 1956 by renaming the Arab Legion. Then-King Hussein wanted at the time to distance himself from the British and disprove the contention of Arab nationalists that John Glubb, the Arab Legion's commander, was the actual ruler of Jordan. Glubb was dismissed on the same date and replaced with Maj.-Gen. Radi Annab, the first Arab commander of the Arab Legion.

Timeline of the history and development of the Jordanian Army and the Arab Legion:

Structure and objectives

The army's organisational structure was traditionally based on two armoured divisions and two mechanized divisions. These have been transformed into a lighter, more mobile forces, based largely on a brigade structure and considered better capable of rapid reaction in emergencies. An armoured division has become the core element of a strategic reserve.

The main objectives of the Jordanian Armed Forces are:

1. Protect the Kingdom of Jordan borders from any invasion.
2. Protect the people inside the Kingdom and their rights.
3. Protect the King of Jordan.

Special Operations Forces

Over the years, the development of the Royal Special Operations Forces has been particularly significant, enhancing the capability of the forces to react rapidly to threats to state security, as well as training special forces from the region and beyond.

Jordan has embarked on the installation of a sophisticated Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) system which is expected to enhance interoperability between the armed services and also between Jordanian and coalition forces as well as improving Jordan's air defense system.

In order to better cope with a range of potential threats, Jordan has been re-organizing its armed forces. There has been a greater emphasis on rapid reaction and special forces. The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), founded in the mid-1990s, has been focusing on both internal security in support of the Middle East peace process and border security. In the latter role, JSOC gives particular attention to sophisticated smuggling operations on the Iraqi border and terrorist infiltration along the Syrian frontier. Jordanian forces also have a focus on the sensitive frontier along the East Bank of the Jordan River (the border shared with Israel).

Intelligence

The Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate (GID) is reportedly one of the most important intelligence agencies in the Middle East, and is considered one of the most professional in the Arab world. Their mission is to contribute to the safeguarding of the Kingdom under the Hashemite leadership of the King of Jordan, as well as protecting freedoms and preserving democracy in the country. In practice, the agency is notoriously known for its extensive activity in Jordan and throughout the Middle East, as well as its cooperation with American, British, and Israeli intelligence. Through a complex spying system, it plays a central role in preserving stability in the nation and monitoring seditious activity.

Defense industry

Jordan is a recent entrant to the domestic defense industry with the establishment of King Abdullah Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) in 1999. The defense industrial initiative is intended to jumpstart industrialization across a range of sectors. With the Jordanian defense expenditures at 8.7% of GDP, the Jordanian authorities created the defense industry to utilize defense budget spending power and to assist in economic growth without placing additional demands on the national budget. Jordan also hosts SOFEX, the world's fastest growing and region's only special operations and homeland security exhibition and conference. Jordan is a regional and international provider of advanced military goods and services.

A KADDB Industrial Park was opened in September 2009 in Mafraq. It is an integral industrial free zone specialized in defense industries and vehicles and machinery manufacturing. By 2015, the park is expected to provide around 15,000 job opportunities whereas the investment volume is expected to reach JD500 million.

Peacekeeping

The Jordanian Armed Forces has been a strong supporter and participant of UN peacekeeping missions. Jordan ranks among the highest internationally in taking part in UN peacekeeping missions. The size of the Jordanian participation in various areas of the United Nations peacekeeping troops and staff, hospital and international observers, is estimated to be 61,611 officers and men, starting in 1989 in Angola through the task of military observers and humanitarian security forces. After France and the UK, Jordan was the largest contributor of troops to the UN forces in the former Yugoslavia, sending three battalions, or over three thousand troops, from 1993 to 1996.

At the U.N. Copenhagen summit, Jordan was alone, out of more than 30 developing nations, in unveiling plans to help fight climate change, including upgrading its armed forces by 2020, an area usually overlooked in the global warming debate. The army will seek to upgrade engines and old vehicles and use energy saving technologies.

International assistance

In addition to providing domestic and border security for the country, the Jordanian Armed Forces have assumed a prominent regional and international role as a provider of humanitarian assistance and military training.

Medical services

Jordan has dispatched several field hospitals to conflict zones and areas affected by natural disasters across the world such as Iraq, the West Bank, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Haiti, Indonesia, Congo, Liberia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, and Pakistan. The Kingdom's field hospitals have extended aid to some one million people in the West Bank and 55,000 in Lebanon.

The country has committed nearly 600 health care practitioners to the medical assistance missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. A 50-bed Jordanian military hospital located in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, cares for more than 650 patients a day, providing critical health care for thousands of Afghans who suffered neglect at the hands of the Taliban regime. More than 500,000 patients have been treated at the Jordanian military hospital in Afghanistan.

In Iraq, a second Jordanian military hospital provides health services to Iraqis and serves as an ad hoc trauma center, treating patients wounded in terrorist attacks and moving them to Jordan or other locations. As of February 2006, more than 4 million people had been treated in Jordan's military hospital in Iraq, and Jordanian military general surgeons had performed 1,638 surgeries.

On 24 Nov 2010, another Jordanian military field hospital (Gaza 11) arrived in the coastal territory of Gaza to replace (Gaza 10) whose tour of duty came to an end after treating 44,000 Palestinians and performing 720 minor and major surgeries since its inception in September 2010.

Arabian Peninsula

For many years, Jordan has supplied Arab States of the Persian Gulf with advisers, mostly personnel in reserve status who had completed their active duty. A total of 565 army officers and 1,420 NCOs served in other Arab countries between 1970 and 1984. The loan of military personnel was regarded as a form of compensation to the Arab states in the Persian Gulf that have provided Jordan with subsidies over the years. Jordan also has acted as a consultant to these countries in matters such as weapons selection and organization of military forces.

As of 1988, Jordanian personnel were serving in a training or operational capacity in Kuwait, North Yemen, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. Many officers from these countries, the majority Saudi Arabs, were undergoing training in Jordan at Mutah University and the Jordanian Staff College. Between 1970 and 1984, more than 4,000 officers and 7,000 enlisted personnel from Arab states had attended military institutions in Jordan.

Jordan has also supplied combat troops to assist Persian Gulf states confronting security threats. In 1975 Jordan deployed two squadrons of fighter aircraft and a Special Forces battalion to Oman at that country's request to help defeat an uprising supported by South Yemen.

Other

The Jordanians have helped Iraqis by providing them with military and police training as well as donating military and police equipment. The armed forces trained tens of thousands of Iraqi troops and policemen after the U.S.-led invasion.

Jordanians have donated 250 armored personnel carriers to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. The vehicles consisted of 50 Ukrainian-built BTR-94 armored personnel carriers, 100 British Spartans, and 100 American-made M113A1 armored personnel carriers. Jordan also donated two C-130B Hercules transport aircraft to the Iraqi Air Force, as well as 16 UH-1H utility helicopters. Jordanians have helped train Iraqi security forces by hosting Iraqi police and border-enforcement training in Jordan. Outside the Jordanian capital of Amman, the first all-female Iraqi army military police company was formed and trained by female Jordanian military personnel. Royal Jordanian aircrews have trained some Iraqi air force pilots, and Jordanian noncommissioned officers helped train the Iraqi military's NCO corps in various locations in Iraq.

Jordan has also begun training Libyan policemen as part of a programme to strengthen ties between the countries. The training programme is part of a wider plan to re-integrate 200,000 former rebel fighters into Libyan society.