The Desert Patrol (Hajjaneh)

During the turbulence that characterised the colonial mandate period in the Middle East, Jordan required a military force that could help secure the borders against cross-border raids from tribes in neighbouring countries and enforce order among rivalrous tribes in Jordan’s vast desert areas.

In response, John Bagot Glubb organised 90 men from the country’s Bedouin communities into the Desert Patrol, a mounted force on camels, known as the Hajjaneh. Castle-like outposts and stations that residents called manara (lighthouse) were equipped with wireless transmission for faster communication to facilitate the rapid movement of the patrol. Upon its formation in 1930, the Desert Patrol consisted of 12 percent of the Arab Legion, and by 1932, the force had successfully brought raiding to an end, allowing residents in desert areas to enjoy normalcy and calm.

The patrol’s prowess in coping with the difficulties and problems of the period and the competing pressures from tribes and residents destined this subdivision of the Arab Legion to assume an increasingly prominent role alongside the Arab Legion, which was active mostly in urban areas, and the Transjordan Frontier Force, formed in 1926 to defend the borders with Syria and Palestine. The Arab Legion expanded in the run up to World War II and in response to the troubles in Palestine throughout the 1930s, with the Bedouin component of the Arab Legion growing to nearly half. In 1936, John Bagot Glubb added a detachment of motorists to the Desert Patrol, which became the Mechanised Desert Force, increasing the force to 120 personnel.

The Desert Mechanised Force emerged as the nucleus of the contemporary Jordan Armed Forces following Jordan’s independence in 1946. Today a Hajjaneh company in the Public Security Department continues to patrol desert and border areas, and a new mounted force will soon be introduced to the JAF’s Badia Brigade.