Military

(1) Archeological evidence indicates that around 2600 B.C. Bahrain was part of the civilization of Dilmun which dominated the Persian Gulf from 4000 to 2000 B.C. Beyond that, little history about Bahrain is recorded until the 19th century when the British became involved with Persian Gulf trading activities.

(2) At the beginning of the 19th century, Bahrain, along with other Persian Gulf States, was actively engaged in piracy. During this time British involvement in the area increased in a concentrated effort to subdue piracy of its trading ships. In 1820, Bahrain signed a General Treaty of Peace with the British, agreeing not to engage in piracy. Friendly Bahraini-British relations then developed and continued through the 1800s and into the early 20th century. Acting for the Bahrainis, the British signed an agreement with the Ottomans in 1913, assuring that Bahrain would not be colonized by the British. A 1916 British agreement with the king of Saudi Arabia stipulated that Saudi Arabia would not attempt to take over Bahrain. These actions provided for some measure of stability in Bahrain.

(3) In 1968, Great Britain announced its decision to remove its forces from the Persian Gulf. Learning of the British intention, Bahrain joined eight other states (Qatar and the seven Trucial States) in an effort to form a union of Arab emirates. By 1971, the sheikdoms still had not agreed on terms of a union. Due to this, Bahrain decided to seek independence as a separate entity and became fully independent on 15 August 1971.

(1) Bahrain gained independence in 1971, and has maintained a remarkably stable monarchy. Since 1869, the ruling family, the Al-Khalifas, has dominated the government and society with the exception of one brief interruption. The political stability and relative economic prosperity of Bahrain can also be credited to the sheiks from the Al-Khalifa family. Bahrain is considered a moderate Arab state even though it opposed the Camp David agreement between Egypt, Israel, and the US, and the resulting Egyptain-Israeli treaty signed in March 1979.

(2) In 1970, Iranian Shiites sought to extend their revolutionary ideas among the Bahraini Shiites in an attempt to overthrow the Sunni ruling family. This attempt at domestic unrest and political opposition was not accepted by the mainstream of Bahraini Shiites. Religious tensions again increased to a minor degree with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the outbreak of the Iraq-Iran war. Despite this, Bahrain has largely been unaffected by instabilities in the area.

(3) Bahrain has cooperated with multi-national forces during Operation DESERT STORM by allowing them access to its military facilities.

(1) Although the climate of Bahrain is relatively pleasant from October to April, it is characterized by intense heat and humidity during the summer months (Table 1). Daily temperatures are fairly uniform throughout the islands. The humidity is oppressive, 70 to 80% and tends to cover everything with a heavy dampness. A dry southwest wind, identified as the "qaws," periodically blows sand clouds across the barren end of the island of Bahrain toward Manama. A cool northerly wind, the "barra," comes in May and June.

(2) The average annual rainfall is less than 10 centimeters (cm); no year-round rivers or streams exist. Rain tends to fall in brief torrential bursts during the summer months, flooding the normally dry shallow wadis and making secondary dirt roads impassable. Little of this water is caught for irrigation or drinking.

(1) Most of the main island is desert with low outcroppings of limestone forming rolling hills, stubby cliffs, and shallow ravines (Figure 2-3). Inland of the partly cultivated western coast, the land rises 50 meters (m) to a light-colored plateau cut by wadis. Approximately in the middle of this plateau, a steep-sided hill, Jabal Duk-han, rises 137 m and is the highest point on the island. The limestone rock of the plateau is partially covered by sand, but much of it is strewn with gravel. While the southern portion of the island contains mainly sand, salt flats, and marshes, limited areas in the north can sustain agriculture. Bahrain has a number of fresh water springs and artesian wells that are mainly concentrated along the northern coast.

(2) The island of Al Muharraq is linked with the capital city of Manama by a 2.5 km causeway. The island is 5 km wide with a low, flat, sandy surface covered with date plantations and cultivated tracts. The island of Sitrah is linked to Bahrain by a bridge spanning a shallow channel. North of Sitrah is An Nabi Salih, where fresh water springs irrigate numerous date groves. Northwest of Bahrain is the small rocky island of Jiddah which serves as a prison settlement. South of Jiddah is the larger island of Umm al-Nasan, the personal property and private game preserve of the ruler. About 20 km southeast of the island of Bahrain and close to the coast of Qatar are the Buwar Islands, the objects of a territorial dispute between Bahrain and Qatar pertaining to off-shore oil exploration rights. See Table 3 for trafficability.

(1) There is only one major Bahraini port located at Mina Sulman, Manama. The Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yards' (ASRY) dry dock offshore facility is located south of Al Muharraq Island (as depicted in Figure 2-4).

(2) Mina Sulman, located 9 km from the Bahrain International Airport, is a deep water harbor with accommodations that include 16 berths, a small craft quay, mobile cranes, and container facilities. Full provisioning is available. Further development is planned for the harbor.

(3) The Sitrah Island oil-loading terminal with six main oil berths is about 4.8 km from Sitrah Island at the end of the Sitrah Pipeline. Fresh water and all types of fuel are available. The Bahrain International Airport is 20 km away.

(1) The area which encompasses Palestine was once inhabited by the Habiru (Hebrew) tribes of seminomadic peoples. The Habiru were descendents of Abraham, who with his family had migrated from Mesopotamia to Canaan in the 15th or 16th century B.C. One of the largest and most powerful of the Habiru tribes was the tribe of Judah. The word Jew is derived from this tribal name.

(2) In the 10th century B.C., the Hebrews conquered the entire general area which in turn formed the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Centuries later Alexander the Great bypassed Israel and allowed the Jews to retain local sovereignty as long as they recognized Greek overlordship.

(3) In 63 B.C. Roman armies captured Jerusalem, and the land became part of the Roman Province of Syria. Several minor rebellions took place and in 70 A.D. the Roman armies destroyed the Jewish temple in Jerusalem and drove out the Jews. This dispersal resulted in an exodus of Jews to many other parts of the world and reduced the number of Jews remaining in Palestine to an almost insignificant minority of some 2% of their former numbers. The Arab population increased, and with the introduction of Islam, Palestine became a predominantly Muslim area. Palestine was ruled in turn by the Roman Empire, the Islamic Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and eventually by Great Britain as a result of the breakup of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.

(4) In 1915-16 Hussein-McMahon correspondence promised independence and creation of Arab states in return for Arab assistance against the Turks. In 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement was signed which stated the UK and France would divide the region after the war and all areas would become UK or French protectorates (colonies). In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Balfour wrote to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the British and international Zionist movement, committing the British Government to the "establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish People." The intent of the letter was to ensure the support of the Jews in Britain, the US, and postrevolutionary Russia for the duration of the war in Europe. At the same time, other commitments were made to the Arab leaders. These promises were almost in direct contradiction to the Zionist commitment. Jewish immigration to Palestine increased in the 1920s and 1930s. It became a flood as anti-Semitic pogroms in Germany increased in violence. By 1939, 30% of the population of Palestine was Jewish. After World War II further waves of Jewish immigrants came to Palestine. In May 1948, the leaders of the Palestine Jewish community proclaimed the establishment of the state of Israel. The territory of the state was that portion of Palestine designated as Jewish by UN resolution.

(1) On 15 May 1948, armies from neighboring Arab nations entered Palestine and attacked the newly formed Israeli defense forces. Under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), a truce was negotiated, and in 1949, four armistice agreements were reached. In the ensuing seven years, violence along the borders continued. The 1956 Suez War was caused when Egypt nationalized the canal and UK, France, and Israel invaded. In October 1956, Israel invaded the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula; in March 1957, Israel withdrew its forces and a U.N. Emergency Force (UNEF) was installed to prevent further hostilities. The US was responsible for terminating the war but Nasser of Egypt got the credit. Serious tension built up in 1967, and the UNEF was ordered to leave the area. Intensive fighting then broke out between Israel and the countries of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. After six days Israel controlled the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the Golan sector of Syria, and the West Bank of the Jordan River, including the eastern sector of Jerusalem.

(2) A tense, six-year period of no war/no peace ended on 6 October 1973, when Egypt and Syria simultaneously attacked Israel. Egyptian and Syrian advances were initially significant. Israel, however, recovered on both fronts. When a cease-fire was negotiated, Israel had pushed Syria well beyond the 1967 cease-fire lines and had crossed the Suez Canal and occupied a salient position on the West Bank. In March 1979, the heads of state of Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty officially ending the 1967 conflict and guaranteeing the rights of each other to peaceful coexistence. In April 1979, the first Israeli cargo ship passed through the previously closed Suez Canal.

(3) The history of Israel has been and continues to be a chronology of conflict with the Palestinians and the Arab nations in Southwest Asia. These have included: Arab/Palestinian terrorist attacks on the Israelis, Israeli retaliation and "preemptive" attacks on various Arab states, the killing of Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich, Israel's two incursions into Lebanon and the Palestinian camp massacre, and others. In the most recent Gulf War between multi-national forces and Iraq, the US persuaded Israel to stay out of the war, although Iraq targeted Israel with SCUD missiles several times causing some casualties and minor damage. Israel is the world's major beneficiary of US aid, receiving more than four billion dollars annually. The future appears to promise a settlement between Israel and the other Arab states.

(4) The Negev Desert is hot and barren. Annual precipitation in this area varies from 20 cm in Beersheba to 3 cm in Eilat. Sandstorms, which are called "sharav" or "hamsteen," are quite common during spring and summer. These hot, parching winds blow from the inland desert and last only about two to three days at a time.

(1) The coastal plains border the Mediterranean and stretch from the Lebanese border in the north to the Gaza Strip in the south, interrupted only by the Cape of Mount Carmel at Haifa. The plains gradually narrow from south to north; they are 40 km wide at Gaza and 5 km wide at the northern border. The plains are fertile, humid, densely populated, and agriculturally active. They are traversed by several short streams and wadis, only two of which, the Nahal Yarqon and the Nahal Qishon, have permanent water flows. The streams and wadis of the coastal plains are essentially oriented east to west. Water is plentiful in the more densely populated areas and northward. In the southern portion of the region, water is available along the major trails.

(2) To the east of the coastal plains lies the central hills region. In the north the hills of Galilee represent a lower and gentler continuation of the Lebanon Mountains. To the south, in an area largely composed of the West Bank of the Jordan River, lie the Samarian and the Judean mountains. The hills region averages about 700 m in elevation and culminates at the 1,208 m Mount (Har) Meron, the highest point in the country, near Safad in the hills of Galilee. The hills are generally flat-topped with wadis, some with walls almost 200 m high, and oriented east to west. At several points the mountains are cut by valleys. The largest valley is the Jezreel, which stretches 48 km from Haifa southeast to the Jordan River Valley; the Jezreel Valley is 19 km across at the widest point. The western slopes of the central hills region are characterized by a deep dissection; the eastern slopes resemble an escarpment. Vegetation is mostly sparse grass or shrub with some forest land on the less accessible slopes. The area is moderately populated. Water is available in streams, springs, and wells which are numerous throughout northern Israel. Southward, pools form after winter rains, creating many springs and filling wells and cisterns.

(3) East of the central hills region lies the Rift Valley. From the Hula Valley in the north of this region, the Jordan flows into Lake Tiberias (also known as the Sea of Galilee and as Lake Kinneret) and continues southward into the Dead Sea. Lake Tiberias, which is slightly saline, is 165 km² in area and lies 210 m below sea level. The Dead Sea, which is highly saline and 1,020 km² in area, lies 394 m below sea level--the lowest point in the world. Between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba lies Wadi Haarava (also referred to as Wadi al Arabah). The Rift Valley has an extremely flat to gentle rolling floor flanked by hills and mountains which rise in some places as steep cliffs. Perennial streams flow mostly from the east, and streams and water decrease as they move southward. Heavy vegetation is prevalent along the stream banks. Water is available in lakes, marshes, and along the Dead Sea. South of the Dead Sea during the winter months, water can be found in springs, cisterns, and in shallow holes dug in the wadis. The area is densely populated in the north.

(4) The Negev Desert comprises over 60% of Israel's total area. The Negev Desert forms a triangle with the base of the desert in the north on the outskirts of Judea and its apex at the southern tip of the country. The Negev is comprised of lowlands on the west, hills in the central portion, and Wadi Haarava on the eastern border. The Negev Desert region is mostly an arid wasteland of high sand dunes and ridges with an occasional oasis. Water is available from wells, cisterns, and springs which may be 24 to 32 km apart along major trails. An evaluation of trafficability in Israel is at Table 10.

(1) The IDF has no commander in chief designated as such. The law establishing the army vests command in the government. The Minister of Defense acts as the highest authority over the IDF and is its link to civilian political authorities. This office is held by a civilian (though normally retired military). The highest ranking military officer, and the only officer to hold the rank of lieutenant general (rav sluf), is the Chief of Staff, who is also the chairman of the general staff and is responsible to the Minister of Defense for all IDF matters. In general, the Ministry of Defense is in charge of administrative and technical matters, while the general staff is in charge of "professional" matters, such as organization, training, and the planning and execution of military operations. As the Supreme Commander of the IDF, however, the Minister of Defense can intervene in all IDF matters (Figure 2-12).

(2) The general staff is organized along conventional lines. The general staff's permanent members are the heads of the five staff branches (operations, manpower, planning, quartermaster, and intelligence); the commanders of the Air Force, Navy, and functional commands; and the three area commanders of the ground forces. The head of the operations branch (or general staff branch as formally designated) is considered the second in command within the general staff after the Chief of Staff. This remains true even though a special post of deputy chief of staff is sometimes created. The general staff wields control over all branches of the IDF.

(3) The Navy and Air Force have never been designated as separate services. Officially known as the Israeli Sea Corps (Hel Yam) and the Israeli Air Corps (Hel Aviv), the Navy and Air Force enjoy a bit more autonomy within the IDF structure than their official designation would suggest. There is no single commander of the ground forces; rather, there are three area commanders with equal responsibilities in the northern, central, and southern regions of the country. In addition, the general staff supervises approximately 24 "functional commands," the most important of which are armor, paratroop, artillery, training, Nahal (paramilitary youth), and Gadna (youth battalions).

(1) Scientists believe that people have lived in what is now Jordan since the Stone Age. In ancient times the eastern upland of Jordan was a great highway for camel caravans and armies. At various times local kingdoms flourished throughout the area. The greatest of these was the kingdom of Nabataeans. The Nabataeans controlled the trade between Arabia and Syria for their capital in Petra from 300 B.C. to 100 A.D.; they also at one time ruled Damascus, the capital of Syria. The Romans conquered Petra in 106 A.D., and Emperor Trajan formally annexed the Nabataean Kingdom. Trajan organized the Nabataean territory within the new Roman province of Arabia which includes what we now know as the East Bank of the Jordan. From then until the 1400s, wandering tribesmen roamed throughout most of the Jordan eastern uplands. After the early 1500s, Jordan became another territory of Southwest Asia controlled by the Ottoman Turks.

(2) British and Arab troops seized Palestine from the Ottoman Turks during World War I. After the war Great Britain received a League of Nations mandate (order to rule) over what is now Jordan and Israel. In 1921 Great Britain appointed Hussein as the emir of the eastern uplands of present day Jordan. The area was later called Transjordan. During the next 20 years, Transjordan gradually became independent of British control. Great Britain and Transjordan signed a 1946 treaty that recognized the complete independence of Transjordan. In May 1946 Transjordan's National Assembly proclaimed Abdullah as King. King Abdullah of Jordan and King Feisal I of Iraq were the sons of Sharif Hussein of Mecca. In WW I they fought alongside Lawrence of Arabia as leaders of the Arab Revolt.

(3) In 1948 the British ended their mandate over Palestine. Following the formation of the Israeli State, Transjordan and other Arab states became involved in the first Arab-Israeli conflict. The fighting ended in 1949 but not before 600,000 Palestinians fled into Transjordan. In 1950 the government changed the country's name to Jordan.

(1) In 1951 King Abdullah was assassinated by a PLO terrorist as he entered a mosque in Jerusalem accompanied by his teenage grandson, Hussein. Hussein therefore, has no love for Palestinians, but 60% of Jordans population are Palestinians so he has to keep them appeased to stay in power. King Abdulllah's son, Talal, became King but was unable to rule because of mental illness. The National Assembly deposed Talal and made his son, Hussein I, King. The country adopted a new, more democratic constitution and became a member of the UN in 1955. Jordan suffered considerably during the 1950s due to frequent conflicts with the Israelis. Because of Jordan's huge refugee problem, the UN, US, and UK provided economic aid. In 1958, King Feisal II of Iraq (Hussein's first cousin) was assassinated along with the rest of the royal family, by the Iraqi Army. Hussein should not feel friendly toward the Iraqis because of this. Next, in 1958 Jordan joined with Iraq to form the Arab Federation to counteract the United Arab Republic's influence in Southwest Asia. This alliance ended a few months later when nationalists overthrew the government of Iraq.

NOTE: Hussein and Feisal are/were aliens in their countries because they are Hashemites from the Hejay region of Saudi Arabia.

(2) War with Israel in 1967 resulted in Israeli occupation of Jerusalem and all of the West Bank. The Israelis have remained in these areas since that time. The Jordan Civil War began in September 1970, when Hussein ordered the Jordan Arab Army to attack the PLO and drive them from Jordan. In 1971 King Hussein mounted a major attack against Palestinian guerrilla bases in Jordan and succeeded in eliminating that long-standing problem. In 1974, however, King Hussein concurred in an Arab summit conference decision to recognize the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people.

(3) Since the 1970s, Jordan's stance has been generally pro-western, and Jordan has maintained better relations with the more conservative Arab states. Jordan is at the heart of one of the most complex and charged issues in the whole Middle East problem--the future of the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Palestinian refugees. The continuation of a stable and dependable regime in Jordan is of primary importance to the US in its efforts to assist in finding a just and lasting peace in the region.

(4) Subsidies from Iraq and Saudi Arabia have kept the country solvent, but the blockade against Iraq during the recent Gulf war has deeply damaged its economy. The high birthrate of resident Palestinians has put an additional strain on the kingdom. During the recent Gulf war, Jordan sided with Iraq, which is not favorably considered at this time.

(1) The desert regions of the East Bank receive less than 12 cm of rain a year. Rain normally falls in the form of brief, but violent local winter rainstorms. Nights are clear in the summer; about one third are cloudy in the winter.

(2) In the cultivated plains there is adequate rainfall for agriculture, but the amount and occurrence is highly erratic from year to year. Snow frequently falls in the Amman area.

(3) In the Jordanian highlands, precipitation averages about 50 cm in the north and 30 cm in the south. The winter rainfall commonly lasts up to three days at a time and varies from gentle showers to the more frequent violent cloudbursts. Snow occurs at the higher elevations. Most nights are clear during the summer, whereas more than half are cloudy in winter.

(4) The Jordan Valley, lying in the shelter of the West Bank high ground, forms a narrow climatic zone that annually receives up to 30 cm of rain in the northern areas and less than 12 cm at the head of the Dead Sea. Nights are clear in the summer, one third are cloudy in the winter.

(5) For about a month before and after the summer season, hot dry air from the desert, drawn by low pressure systems, produces strong south or southwest winds that can reach gale force. This dry sirocco-style wind, known as "khamsin" among other names, is usually accompanied by great dust clouds. At its onset, the khamsin is preceded by a hazy sky, a falling barometer, and a drop in relative humidity to about 10%. Within a few hours there may be a 10^o to 15^o C rise in temperature. These windstorms ordinarily last a day or so, and cause much discomfort and crop destruction.

(6) The "shamal" is another wind worthy of note; this wind generates from the north or northwest in intervals between June and September. Originating as a dry continental mass of polar air, the shamal is warmed as it passes over the Eurasian land mass. The dryness allows intense heating of the earth's surface by the sun, resulting in high daytime temperatures that moderate after sunset. Remarkably steady during daytime hours, but breeze-like at night, the shamal may blow for as long as 9 out of 10 days, stop and then repeat the process.

(1) The greatest part of the East Bank is desert, which displays the land forms and other features associated with great aridity. Most of the land is part of the great Syrian Desert. There are broad expanses of sand, sand dunes, and salt flats, particularly in the south and southeast. Occasional clumps of sandstone hills or low mountains averaging over 900 m high support only meager and stunted vegetation that comes to life for a short period after the scanty winter rains. The drainage network is coarse and incised. In many areas the land relief provides no eventual outlet to the sea, resulting in the accumulation of sedimentary deposits in basins where moisture evaporates or is absorbed in the ground. Toward the depression in the western part of the East Bank, the desert rises and gradually becomes the Jordanian highlands. The area is sparsely populated but is traveled extensively by nomads. In the northern portion of the desert region, there is a continuous expanse of extinct volcanoes and lava fields. The lava flow of these fields resembles hills dissected by gullies. Rugged rock outcrops and boulders up to several feet in diameter dot the terrain. Water is available throughout the region in wells, cisterns, and springs that may be 24 to 32 km apart along major trails. Springs are located along the valley slopes of the wadis.

(2) The cultivated hills and plains form a long, narrow triangle with a base in the extreme north that extends almost to Maan. The region consists of flat to rolling plains with scattered hills. There is extensive cultivation in this region supported by water from numerous canals and ditches. This triangle also contains most of the urban areas and towns. Water is available in marshes, springs, and pools as well as in wells and cisterns along trails and in populated areas.

(3) The Jordanian highlands is a steppe region of high, deeply cut limestone plateaus with an average elevation of 900 m; occasional summits reach 1,200 m in the north and over 1,500 m in the south. The western edge of this plateau area forms an escarpment along the eastern side of the Jordan River-Dead Sea depression and along the continuation of the depression south of the Dead Sea. Most of the wadis that provide drainage from the plateau into the depression carry water only during the short season of winter rains. The wadis are sharply incised with deep, canyon-like walls which, wet or dry, present formidable obstacles to travel. The area is only moderately populated. Water is available from numerous streams, springs, and wells in the north and in pools after winter rains to the south.

(4) The Jordan Valley is a flat-to-gently-rolling floor flanked by hills and mountains. The Jordan River flows through the valley from mountain headwaters 161 km north of the river's mouth at the Dead Sea. The river drops from an elevation of 3,000 m above sea level to 435 m below sea level. The principal tributary of the Jordan is the Yarmuk River, which forms the boundary between Israel on the northwest, Syria on the northeast, and Jordan on the south. The Az Zarqa River, the second main tributary of the Jordan, rises and empties entirely within the East Bank. The perennial streams and rivers which flow primarily from the east vary from 2 to 75 m in width and are 1 to 2 m deep throughout the year. The streams decrease southward and the area is extremely dry in summer. The Dead Sea, located in the middle of the western border, occupies the deepest depression in the earth's land surface. The depth of the depression is accentuated by the mountains and highlands which parallel the depression.

(5) These highlands rise to elevations of 800 to 1,000 m above sea level. Toward the southern end of the depression, a narrow peninsula juts from the east to divide the Dead Sea into a larger and much deeper northern basin with a shallow southern basin scarcely 3 m deep. The entire body of water is some 80 km long and has a maximum width of slightly over 10 km. South of the Dead Sea about halfway to the Gulf of Aqaba, a continuation of the depression known as the Wadi al Arabha rises gradually in elevation to sea level as the wadi winds through a barren desert. The wadi continues to rise to an elevation of 300 m above sea level about 654 km from the gulf. At the summit there is a divide between drainage lines running north to the Dead Sea and south to the Gulf of Aqaba. Trafficability in Jordan in evaluated in Table 24.

(1) The Jordanian Armed Forces, formed by the United Kingdom after World War I, combined a police force of about 300 men with approximately 1,000 military personnel from various military units. The Jordanian Armed Forces were originally known as the Bedouin Arab Army. In English, however, it was known as the Arab Legion, a designation which lasted until 1956. From inception the Arab Legion's mission was to enhance the establishment of a central governmental authority through the maintenance of public order and the preservation of internal security.

(2) During the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the Legion's strength quickly expanded to approximately 10,000 of which 4,500 were combat troops. Combat efficiency and strengths increased more after the 1948 war when the Jordanian Armed Forces became a real symbol of power in Southwest Asia.

(3) By early 1956, King Hussein began to reorganize the Armed Forces and establish the Royal Jordanian Air Force. In the following year the Jordanian Armed Forces steadily grew and modernized, enabling them to participate in the Arab-Israeli wars (except the 1956 and 1973 wars) in a commendable fashion. Observers were prompted to remark that "Jordan is really an army with a country attached to it."

(1) The defense structure is headed by the King who is the Supreme Commander of all Jordanian Armed Forces. The senior military officer is answerable to the Minister of Defense, the Prime Minister, and the King, in that order. Reporting to the senior military commander is the chief of staff who heads a general staff. As a Sandhurst-trained (British) officer and qualified test pilot, the King devotes most of his attention to military matters and personally approves all promotions and transfers. The command channel from division headquarters is directly upward to the headquarters of the general command and downward through the pyramid of subordinate divisional units. Divisions usually have three brigades, and each brigade has three battalions. Despite years of American training, traces of British military concepts remain, especially within specific units, i.e., British forms elite infantry units that have also been trained for deployment as paratroops. One of these units, the Royal Guards Battalion, is stationed in Amman where it serves as bodyguard for the King and the royal family. The combat professionalism and unquestioned loyalty of these troops have been credited with thwarting repeated attempts on King Hussein's life.

(2) The quality of training offered by Jordan's army schools has been sufficiently high to attract hundreds of military officers and enlisted personnel from neighboring Arab countries. Since 1974 increasing numbers of spaces in the classes conducted each year have been made available to army and air force personnel of Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait. In addition, Jordan has sent at least one training mission of officers to Kuwait. In 1976 a senior Jordanian army officer was appointed as the first Chief of Staff of the UAE Armed Forces. Jordan has military advisors in Lebanon, Morocco, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iraq. A brigade of volunteers is in Iraq in support of the Iraqi Army.