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Jordan Training and Education
Army basic training in primary military skills and discipline
was conducted over a fourteen-week period for both volunteers and
conscripts. More advanced training in individual weapons, as well
as in artillery, engineering, communications, and other
specialties, was provided after recruits were assigned to their
permanent units. Soldiers qualifying for promotion attended a
general NCO school providing instruction in leadership techniques.
Additional courses for NCOs were offered at training centers
specializing in armor, artillery, engineering, and logistics. A
branch of the infantry school trained Special Forces personnel in
techniques of night patrol, demolition, map reading, and
hand-to-hand combat.
With the exception of a very limited number of officers
commissioned from NCO ranks, officer candidates were selected from
applicants who were graduates of the country's secondary schools.
Until the early 1980s, the cadets attended a two-year course of
instruction at the Jordanian Military Academy, where they pursued
a program modeled on that of Sandhurst. In 1987, however, the first
graduates of the four-year program at Mutah Military University in
the town of Mutah (also seen as Moata) south of Amman, were
commissioned as second lieutenants. The curriculum at Mutah has
been described as similar to that of the Citadel in Charleston,
South Carolina, a military college offering bachelor of arts and
bachelor of science degrees in a number of fields.
Two general courses of advanced officer training were
available, one at the Jordanian Staff College and the other at the
War College, both located near Amman. Both programs were one year
in length. The Staff College course was offered to senior captains,
majors, and lieutenant colonels. The War College course was offered
to senior lieutenant colonels, colonels, and brigadier generals.
Virtually all officers attended the Staff College or its equivalent
abroad. Both institutions were affiliated with Mutah. Graduates of
the Staff College were awarded bachelor of arts degrees in military
science from Mutah, and graduates of the War College earned masters
degrees.
Many Jordanian officers also attended the United States Army
Command and General Staff College or the British Army Staff
College. Both officers and NCOs also could attend more specialized
technical schools in the United States and Britain. Some training
positions continued to be available at Sandhurst for selected army
cadets.
The training offered at Jordan's military schools was
considered to be of high quality. The schools attracted several
hundred military officers and enlisted personnel annually from
nearby Arab countries
(see Jordan - Military Cooperation with Other Arab States
, this ch.). The armed forces also administered a high school
in Amman and a number of schools in other areas of the country,
particularly at the more remote posts in the south, to educate
children of military personnel. The schools were conducted on
semimilitary lines and provided some introductory training, but the
curriculum was comparable to that used in civilian schools and was
coordinated with the Ministry of Education.
Data as of December 1989
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