John Bagot Glubb
The force was founded following consultation between the British Foreign Office and Brigadier John Bagot Glubb ('Glubb Pasha'), at the time the British commander of the Jordanian Arab Legion. Glubb suggested an annual budget of £40,000, the Foreign Office (FO) agreed a budget of £30,000 and the Levies was established under a British commander, Major Hankin Turvin, with two Arab officers and 32 other ranks seconded from the Arab Legion. It was later expanded to 30 British officers in command positions, with a handful of Arab officers. It recruited its soldiers locally, mostly from Abu Dhabi. By 1952 the force numbered some 200 men. There were also Yemeni soldiers assigned to the Trucial Oman Scouts from the Aden Protectorate Levies (APL), a British colonial militia based in South Yemen. It finally reached battalion strength.