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Jordan Military Cooperation with Other Arab States
Jordan traditionally has considered that it shared
responsibility for the security of the Middle East, particularly
that of Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states. For many years,
Jordan has supplied these countries 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 Persian Gulf states 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 Military 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 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. Hussein offered to send a division to assist Saudi Arabia
when the main mosque in Mecca was seized by Islamic fundamentalists
in 1979. Although the division was never sent, the incident alerted
Jordanian commanders to the problems of rapidly transporting a
large body of troops in a Middle East emergency. Jordan turned to
the United States for assistance in providing transport airplanes,
missiles, and special equipment to move and maintain a Jordanian
rapid deployment force of two brigades (8,000 men) in the event of
a threat to the stability of the Persian Gulf area. When the
proposal became public in early 1983, it faced so many objections
in Congress--where it was seen as a means to circumvent curbs on
military aid to Jordan--that it had to be abandoned. The Israelis
pointed out that there was no assurance that the new equipment
would not be used against them. Finally, the Gulf states resented
the public airing of their own security needs, and particularly the
involvement of one of the superpowers in such planning.
During the Iran-Iraq War of 1980 to 1988, Jordan sided with
Iraq because of Hussein's desire to contain Iran's revolutionary
Islamic movement. The Jordanian port of Al Aqabah became an
important transshipment point for military supplies essential to
the Baghdad government's conduct of the war. In early 1982, Hussein
announced that the Yarmuk Brigade, a force of 3,000, would be
raised to fight alongside Iraqi forces in the conflict against
Iran. A number of recruiting offices were opened to seek
volunteers. No definite information was subsequently made available
on the role this force played in the fighting. As a reciprocal
gesture, the Iraqis transferred to Jordan on at least two occasions
quantities of American and British armored equipment captured from
Iran.
Although Jordan had no significant defense industry, it was
reported in 1983 that components of the Chinese J-6 fighter
aircraft, a variant of the Soviet MiG-19, were shipped to the King
Faisal Air Base at Al Jafr for assembly and subsequent delivery to
Iraq. The United States had assisted in the construction of an
armor rebuild facility suitable for work on the M-60, Chieftain,
and Centurion tanks, and on armored personnel carriers and
self-propelled artillery. The capacity of the rebuild plant
exceeded Jordan's own needs with the expectation that orders for
the rehabilitation of armored equipment might be obtained from
other Arab nations.
Data as of December 1989
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