On 21 November 1920, Prince Abdullah Bin Al-Hussien (later King) arrived at Ma'an, where he expressed his resolution to drive out the Turkish forces from Syria.

Later, on 5 December 1920, he proclaimed himself as deputy king in Syria and appealed to members of the Al-Faissali army to join his forces in Ma'an.

When Prince Abdullah came to power in the Emirate of Transjordan, the Jordanian Armed Forces included:[citation needed] Roles of military formations in Jordan from the foundation of the emirate until the 1948 Arab–Israeli War: This army started with an infantry company, cavalry company, machine guns unit, signal section and military band.

In 1931, a camel-mounted desert mobile force was organized under the command of John Bagot Glubb to maintain security and order.

After the announcement of the 1947 UN Partition Plan, and the disclosure of the British decision to leave Palestine on 15 May 1948, both warring sides (the Arabs and the Jews) began to make their military preparations for a forthcoming confrontation they believed would be inevitable.

Units of the Arab Legion were engaged in several battles with the Jewish forces including the following: King Hussein spared no pains at all to improve the army in terms of cadre and equipment, and in the early 1956 dismissed Glubb and Arab commanders assumed leadership posts in the army, most notably Habis Al-Majali.

On 11 September, an Israeli force infiltrated the Jordanian territories in the Al-Rahwa, Hebron sector, and attacked the police station there.

[citation needed] On 10 October 1956, an enemy force, estimated at a motorized infantry brigade, supported by medium-range artillery and 10 combat aircraft, attacked the Arab towns of Hubla, Al-Nabi Illias and Azroun.

The assaulting troops fought the Arab legion west of Al-Nabi Illias and were forced to withdraw to Qalqilia hills.

[citation needed] The Jordanian participation included an infantry battalion reinforced by an anti-aircraft platoon and returned home on 13 December 1963.

[citation needed] On 13 November 1966, in response to a Fatah land mine incident two days prior, Israeli forces raided the Palestinian village of Samu (in the Muhafazat of Hebron) with an infantry brigade reinforced by two tank battalions and supported by artillery and combat aircraft.

Believing that Israel was a becoming more of a threat, Egypt declared a state of emergency and started to concentrate its forces in the Sinai desert.

In 1968, the army defended Jordan against Israeli troops that had invaded Jordanian territory in pursuit of Palestinian guerrillas – the Battle of Karameh.

Armed conflict lasted until July 1971 ending only when remaining Palestinian insurgents were surrounded in the Ajloun-Jarash mountains, finally surrendered to the Jordan army and were expelled from the country.

'[10] In October 1970, the Ba'athist regime in neighboring Syria had attempted to intervene in support of the Palestinians by sending an armoured column into the north of Jordan.

It has units deployed at Zarqa in the north; near the capital Amman (along with a brigade of Royal Guards made up of hand-picked troops from Bedouin tribes known for their long-standing loyalty to the crown), and at Qatraneh in the south covering the route into Saudi Arabia.

These have been transformed into a lighter, more mobile forces, based largely on a brigade structure and considered more capable of rapid reaction in emergencies.

The Jordanian military also contributes to UN peacekeeping missions worldwide, having sent contingents to Africa, Afghanistan, Croatia, Bosnia, parts of the former Soviet Union, and even as far as Haiti and East Timor.

Jordanian Special Forces have trained counterparts from Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Yemen.

The British Government arranges for senior Jordanian officers to attend the Royal College for Defence Studies in the UK.

It has become a regular practice for two British Army infantry battalions based in Cyprus to exercise in Jordan every year between August and October.

In recent years, personnel from the following countries have been to Jordan for military training: Bahrain, Egypt, France, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Pakistan, South Korea, Tunisia, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates.

Reports in November 1999 indicated that Jordan sent two groups of about 10 servicemen to Taiwan every year for intensive military training, which included parachuting sessions in Pingtung County's Tsochou township, where the accident happened, jungle combat drills in Taichung County's mountainous Kukuan area, as well as winter training in the snow in Taiwan's Central Mountain Range.

It was revealed that military exchanges between the two countries began in the mid-1950s, when Taiwan sent instructors to Jordan to help train its F-5 fighter pilots.

SOCOM instructors have been providing training in Jordan to special operations troops from a range of Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Libya, Algeria, Morocco and Lebanon.

In April 2004 the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) established a new committee to further its plans for the creation of a unified national training centre.

[17] Training Areas The present day Jordanian Army is equipped with mainly Western (US and British) supplied weapons.

Current projects carried out by Jordan Design and Development Bureau (JODDB) include integration of the Phoenix digital fire and control system and a revised turret for the M-60A3 (featuring ERA of unknown origin) along RUAG L50/52 Smooth-bore Compact Gun to replace the Rifled 120mm L15A1 and 105mm L7/M68 gun of the Challenger 1 and M-60A3 respectively.

Personal Equipment includes the US-supplied M-16 rifles (mainly A2 and some A3/A4), M-4A1, Taiwanese T65 assault rifles and T86 carbines, Browning HP automatic pistols; however, some units utilise the relatively uncommon Beretta Italian SS70/223 (the standard carbine of the Public Security Department and Police Force).