Military Review English Edition September-October 2014 | Page 33

BUILDING PARTNERSHIP CAPACITY

classes were assigned to specific instructors with the
requirement that each instructor resource the teaching material for his specific class.
Identifying a facility. In the summer of 2012,
the JAF identified classroom space at the existing
Noncommissioned Officer Corps Academy for use
by the new NCO course. (The academy had been
established to teach technical skills as opposed to
NCO leadership.) Officials from the country team
escorted by the nine-man cadre visited the proposed
site, and the group assessed requirements jointly.
The facility allocated two large classrooms
and one office space to the new instructor cadre.
Concurrently, the team also determined that the
field training facilities located at the school would
suffice for field training exercises. Their use would
be coordinated through Jordanian internal channels.
Training the commissioned officers to empower NCOs. At this point, support and encouragement from U.S. Army senior leadership became
crucial in gaining the confidence of Jordanian senior
leadership and commitment to the new concept of
employing NCOs trained as true first-line leaders.
Army-to-army staff talks, held annually, provided
a venue for U.S. leaders to encourage the effort. In
addition, the U.S. Army agreed to send a mobile
training team to act as advisors for the duration of
the first course.2 The intent was to have U.S. subject matter experts available in a supporting role to
answer questions, and lend credibility to the course
material and the Jordanian instructors.
The greatest test the NCO leadership initiative
faced was obtaining the acceptance and utilization
of the course’s graduates by the Jordanian officer
corps. There is little history of empowered NCOs in
Jordan. (This problem was also faced in Afghanistan
and Iraq as U.S. forces attempted to build up local
security forces.)3 There was stubborn resistance
among some, if not most, of the Jordanian senior officer leadership to empowering NCOs with responsibility and authority.
Several Jordanian officers reported privately that
they wondered how they would retain control of
their NCOs. They were reluctant about broadening the authority and initiative of NCOs because
they felt they would lose authority or control over
their units and their resources. Many commissioned
MILITARY REVIEW  September-October 2014

officers were loathe to do what they felt would lead
to losing control and prerogatives.
This feature of Jordanian military culture was and
is the most difficult hurdle in the face of efforts to
develop an empowered NCO corps in Jordan. If the
officer corps could not overcome a leadership culture