Military Review English Edition September-October 2014 | Page 27

The JAF, like most of the armies of its
Arab neighbors, lacks a well-developed,
professionally trained, and empowered
NCO corps. This likely is attributable to
cultural factors as well as the fact that the
JAF still operates using a highly directive
centralized command system dominated
by officers down to the lowest level, rather than a mission command model.1
Understanding why Middle
Eastern armies such as Jordan’s lack a
MILITARY REVIEW  September-October 2014

professional NCO corps would certainly
make for a worthy study of itself. Among
other intriguing questions is to what
extent the deficiency of small-unit NCO
leadership among front-line units has
contributed to a shortage of significant
military victories and decisive operations
among Arab armies over the past century. This was especially so when they were
operating against armies with well-developed NCO leadership.

Prince of Jordan Faisal Bin
Al-Hussein, Gen. Lloyd Austin,
commander, U.S. Central Command, and Jordanian Chief of
Staff Lt. Gen. Mashal Zaben
converse moments before
a combined arms live fire
exercise demonstration in Jebel
Petra, Jordan, 5 June 2014.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo Master Sgt. Will
Price, Marine Corps Forces Central Command)

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