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Jordan People's Army and Reserves
In 1983 the Jordanian parliament approved a People's Army Law
requiring male and female students in high schools and colleges and
males between the ages of sixteen and fifty-five who had not
undergone military service (including government employees and farm
workers) to become members of an auxiliary force called the
People's Army. Women between the ages of sixteen and forty-five who
were not students could volunteer for the program. Special uniforms
and insignia were worn. Training included weapons handling and
indoctrination in patriotism, although some emphasis was placed on
civil defense and rescue work and first aid in the event of natural
disasters. Persons employed in vital areas of production were
exempt. Instruction for members of the People's Army was
administered at secondary schools and colleges by visiting teams of
regular uniformed personnel, although annual refresher training was
given at military camps. Exercises were carried out jointly with
regular military units. Women's training occurred in schoolyards
under the supervision of female teachers. Islamic activists in
parliament had opposed compulsory service for women and any mixing
of the sexes in training. The prime minister rejected the
criticism, however, noting that women had participated in the
Prophet Muhammad's conquests.
The original intention was to raise a people's militia of about
200,000 people comprising students and persons deferred from
military service. Slow to get under way, however, by the close of
1986 the program had been introduced in only one governorate, and
no more than 10,000 individuals had been enrolled. The Military
Balance, 1989-90, published by the London-based International
Institute for Strategic Studies, estimated enrollment in the
People's Army to be more than 15,000 as of 1989. The People's Army
was equipped with light weapons obtained from the Soviet Union and
Eastern Europe, including the Soviet AK-47 assault rifle (the
regular army continued to use the United States M-16 as its basic
infantry weapon).
A separate reserve program was maintained but was reported to
enjoy lower priority after the formation of the People's Army. The
estimated 30,000 army and 5,000 air force reservists were
conscripts who, having completed their two years of service,
remained on call for another five years. Reservists had assignments
to fill in existing regular units if called up during a crisis.
Mobilization plans based on the development of separate reserve
elements were reportedly in abeyance because of the lack of funds
for regular training and equipment.
Data as of December 1989
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