Watch Jordan’s King Abdullah II lead his troops in a live-fire exercise

Blake Stilwell
Feb 4, 2020 5:24 PM PST
1 minute read
Military Branches photo

SUMMARY

At age 55, the King of Jordan is still ready to lead from the front — literally, the front of any given war. A video released by the Royal Court on Apr. 17 shows him leading Jordanian troops in a live-fire exercise, taking down buildin…

At age 55, the King of Jordan is still ready to lead from the front — literally, the front of any given war.


A video released by the Royal Court on Apr. 17 shows him leading Jordanian troops in a live-fire exercise, taking down buildings, clearing rooms, and covering his squad's rear. Military action is nothing new to Jordan's reigning monarch.

Hhis Majest King Abdullah II amongst his comrades in arms. (Royal Hashemite Court of Jordan photo)

The King attended the UK's Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1980, entering the British Army as a commissioned second lieutenant. He became a first lieutenant in the Jordanian armed forces after deploying with the British to West Germany. By 1986 he was the captain of a tank company.

He worked his way up the officer's ranks. By the time he was promoted to general grade, he was in Jordan's Special Forces Command.

Major General ibn Al Hussein became King Abdullah II in 1999 upon the death of his father. Since then, he has been a liberal reformist, making Jordan an island of stability in a sea of Middle East turmoil. The Jordanian King even introduced governmental reforms that will lead Jordan to a more parliamentary democracy.

Then-Crown Prince Abdullah with King Hussein of Jordan. (Royal Hashemite Court of Jordan)

His reforms made him a popular figure in his country and around the world. In terms of geopolitics, Abdullah, like his father Hussein, decided to be a peacemaker, maintaining Jordan's peace with Israel, taking in more than a million Syrian refugees, and keeping Jordan a bulwark against Islamic extremism.

Read Now: The King Of Jordan Sent Out This Badass Photo In Response To ISIL

King Abdullah II (Royal Hashemite Court of Jordan photo)

The monarch never forgot his military roots. Keeping Jordan secure is something the King has always been ready to fight for — at times, even personally. When ISIS burned a downed Jordanian pilot alive, King Abdullah vowed to bombard the Islamic State until his military runs "out of fuel and bullets."

Check out his room clearing skills in the video below, and contemplate what it must be like for junior enlisted Jordanian troops to fight alongside their freaking king.

NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

Sign up for We Are The Mighty's newsletter and receive the mighty updates!

By signing up you agree to our We Are The Mighty's Terms of Use and We Are The Mighty's Privacy Policy.

SHARE