The Jordanian Eastern Command (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

:المنطقة العسكرية الشرقية) is the

Jordanian Armed Forces The Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) (, romanized: ''Al-Quwwat Al-Musallaha Al-Urduniyya''), also referred to as the Arab Army (, ''Al-Jaysh Al-Arabi''), are the military forces of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. They consist of the ground forces, ...

regional

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * command (Unix), a Unix command * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on A ...

responsible for the North - East front against Syria and Iraq.

History

Since major restructuring in 1977, the Royal Jordanian Army has kept the Eastern Command (formerly known as 5th Armoured Division) deployed between the Iraqi border and

Ar Ramtha Ar-Ramtha (), colloquially transliterated as Ar-Romtha (), is a city situated in the far northwest of Jordan near the border with Syria. It covers 40 km2 on a plain 30 km northeast of the Jordan River and Irbid. In 2017, Ar-Ramtha had a ...

on the Syrian border with some presence in

Zarqa Zarqa () is the capital of Zarqa Governorate in Jordan. Its name means "the blue (city)". It had a population of 635,160 inhabitants in 2015, and is the second most populous city in Jordan after Amman. History Although the area has been inhab ...

. But in 2000,

King Abdullah II Abdullah II (Abdullah bin Hussein; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of the Hashemites, who have been the reigning royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is traditionally reg ...

made a big step to modernize and restructure

when the Divisions have been transformed into a lighter, more mobile forces, based largely on a brigade structure and considered better capable of rapid reaction in emergencies. Jordanian forces traditionally maintained a defensive posture along this sector. A number of major roads link Jordan and Syria in this region, crossing undulating terrain with no natural obstacles. The important air base at Mafraq are less than 20 km from the border with Syria and are therefore vulnerable to surprise attack or artillery bombardment. As a result, Jordanian forces traditionally paid particular attention to their defenses in this region. The Sector from Ramtha to the Iraqi border was covered by the Eastern Command (5th Armoured Division). This command was involved in many conflicts and engagements, including the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

, the

War of Attrition The War of Attrition (; ) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from 1967 to 1970. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, no serious diplomatic efforts were made to resolve t ...

(and its

Battle of Karameh The Battle of Karameh () was a 15-hour military engagement between Israel and the combined forces of Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the Jordanian border town of Karameh during the War of Attrition on 21 March 1968. ...

) and war against the Syrian army during

Black September Black September (), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was an armed conflict between Jordan, led by Hussein of Jordan, King Hussein, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by chairman Yasser Arafat. The main phase of the fight ...

Organisation

The Eastern Command controls regional units from

and

Mafraq Mafraq ( ''Al-Mafraq'', local dialects: ''Mafrag'' or ''Mafra''; ) is the capital city of Mafraq Governorate in Jordan, located 80 km to the north of the national capital, Amman. It is located at a crossroads, with a road north going to Syr ...

to the Iraqi border with some units based in Zarqa. The Head of Eastern command is Brigadier General Mohammed Suleiman Bani Yasin.

Eastern Command HQ

* ''Command Staff'' * ''HQ Defense Company'' * ''Command Communication Group'' * ''Command Military Police''

Border Guard Force (BGF)

* ''1_st Border Guard Force Brigade'' ** ''Brigade HQ'' *** ''Command Staff'' *** ''Signal Company'' *** ''Medical Center'' *** ''Vehicles & Weapons Maintenance Workshop'' *** ''Reconnaissance & Surveillance Center'' ** ''1_st Border Guard Force Battalion'' ** ''4_th Border Guard Force Battalion'' ** ''5_th Border Guard Force Battalion'' ** ''6_th Border Guard Force Battalion''

Combat & Maneuver Units

* ''Martyr Wasfi Al-Tal 2_nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade'' ** ''Brigade HQ'' *** ''Command Staff'' **** ''Joint Fires Coordination Cell - Targeting Cell'' *** ''Signal Company'' *** ''Medical Center'' *** ''Vehicles & Weapons Maintenance Workshop'' *** ''Chemical Support Platoon (Attached)'' *** ''JTAC Team'' ** ''Habis Al-Majali 4_th Mechanized Infantry Battalion ( YPR-765 pri)'' ** ''Royal Guard 6_th Mechanized Infantry Battalion ( M113A2 MK1)'' ** ''Prince Faisal 17_th Tank Battalion (

M60A3 The M60 is an American second-generation main battle tank (MBT). It was officially standardized as the Tank, Combat, Full Tracked: 105-mm Gun, M60 in March 1959. Although developed from the M48 Patton, the M60 tank series was never officially ...

)'' ** ''1_st Field Artillery Battalion ( M109A3)'' ** ''81_st Field Air Defense Battalion ( Shilka, Strela-10, Igla)'' ** ''Anti-Armor Company ( Kornet-E)'' * ''Martyr King Abdullah I 90_th Mechanized Infantry Brigade'' ** ''Brigade HQ'' *** ''Command Staff'' **** ''Joint Fires Coordination Cell - Targeting Cell'' *** ''Signal Company'' *** ''Medical Center'' *** ''Vehicles & Weapons Maintenance Workshop'' *** ''Chemical Support Platoon (Attached)'' *** ''JTAC Team'' ** ''Al-Hussien 2_nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion ( YPR-765 pri)'' ** ''Princess Basma 3_rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion ( M113A2 MK1)'' ** ''Prince Talal 5_th Mechanized Infantry Battalion ( YPR-765 pri)'' ** ''12_th Field Artillery Battalion ( M109A3)'' ** ''5_th Field Air Defense Battalion ( Shilka, Strela-10, Igla)'' ** ''Anti-Armor Company (

M901 ITV The M901 ITV (improved TOW vehicle) is an American armored vehicle introduced into service in 1979, and designed to carry a dual M220 TOW launcher. It is based on the M113 armored personnel carrier chassis. The M901 ITV is no longer in service ...

)''

Combat Support Units

* ''Eastern Command Artillery ^/sup>'' ** ''Command Artillery HQ'' *** ''STA Company'' ** ''41_st Mortar Battalion ( AGRAB Mk2)'' * ''5_th Field Air Defense Group ^/sup>'' ** ''Group HQ'' ** ''Signal Company'' * ''Command Engineer Battalion'' ** ''3 Mechanized Engineer Companies ^/sup>'' ** ''General Support Company''

Service Support Units

* ''Supply and Transport Battalion'' ** ''3 Supply & Transport Companies ^/sup>'' * ''Command Maintenance Group'' * ''Medical Support Group'' * ''Administrative Transport Group''

Command Training Center

''Notes:'' # '' Subordinate battalions attached to combat brigades'' # '' Each company supports a brigade''

Unit summary

References

{{Jordanian Armed Forces Military units and formations of Jordan Military units and formations established in 2000