page_title: Special Operation Forces (Jordan)
section_title: Special Forces Development
hierarchical_section_title: Special Operation Forces (Jordan) / Special Forces Development
caption_attribution_description: Jordanian Special Forces troops and U.S. airmen advance to their next objective after fast-roping onto the roof of a building, during an interoperability combat search-and-rescue training exercise at the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center as part of Eager Lion 2017 in Amman, Jordan
context_page_description: The King Abdullah ll Special Forces Group of the Jordanian Armed Forces serve as Jordan's premiere special forces unit. Founded on April 15, 1963, on the orders of the late King Hussein, its primary roles include reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, search and evacuation, intelligence gathering combat, and the protection of key sites. The Special Forces Group are also charged with carrying out precision strikes against critical enemy targets. The 1000-strong unit is equipped and trained to be able to operate behind enemy lines for long periods without any logistical support, and is considered one of the finest special forces units in the world.
context_section_description: Since its establishment in 1963, the Jordanian special operations forces were meant to be flexible and dynamic, in order to successfully face the ever-changing threats to Jordan national security. Their organizational structure has evolved significantly over the past half-century, as internal and external threats changed.
  Jordanian special operations forces evolved from a multi-task company-size parachute unit in the early 1960s to brigade-size in the early 1980s, with more specialized units, including a parachute unit, special forces unit and a small counter-terrorism unit.
  With the beginning of this century and the emergence of new threats to national security, Jordan established paramilitary troops—the Gendarmerie. The new military force was, and remains, tasked with countering homeland security threats, thus allowing the Special Operations Forces to focus on homeland defense threats. Therefore, the concept changed accordingly, from special operations to joint special operations.
  The previous organization of the Royal Joint Special Operations consisted mainly of three main brigades with all standard support and service units that facilitate operations and training.
  The Special Forces Brigade consists of a special forces group, a counter-terrorism battalion, and a combat search-and-rescue battalion. This brigade is mainly equipped and trained to successfully fight unconventional threats, with a good capability to also face conventional ones.
  The Rangers Brigade is more geared towards fighting conventional threats, with good capabilities to support internal security operations.
  The Special Operations Aviation Brigade provides the joint task forces with mobility, timely response capabilities, and insertion platforms, especially for the counter-terrorism teams.
caption: Jordanian Special Forces troops
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