ONE ARMY FOR ONE STATE

In this chapter, Sheikh Mohammed talks about the army of the UAE that he had established — right from its training and education to the challenges faced

One of the most sensitive positions I had worked in throughout my life was establishing one united army for the new country.

After the establishment of the Union on December 2, 1971, I worked on managing the responsibilities that the British had handed me, paying great attention to carry on this process smoothly. On December 22, I took the responsibility of the Oman Coast Force, which then turned into the United Defence Forces that were mainly the air force and the infantry with 2,500 soldiers. The main target I wanted to achieve as a defence minister was uniting our army before 1976.

I worked on the command structure and the five-year strategic plan, and I started to implement it.

A group of 20 officers were taught how armies worked, and they learned how to use weapons and the system of the leadership after participating in trainings in Egypt, Jordan and Sudan.

After noticing that some of them had made great progress, I knew I could give them some responsibilities, so that I could work on establishing the Ministry of Defence.

Establishing a defence ministry is not only about choosing a building and setting up offices, but a network of relations and strong ties. .

We dealt with many armed conflicts between different tribes, coup attempts, the assassination of Sharjah’s ruler and other threats locally and regionally.

Day after day, our Union was getting stronger, and with the efforts of the loyal members of the armed forces, we reached a point where it is impossible to imagine the Arab world without the UAE.