Fighting 21st century terrorism is a complex task that requires full and active cooperation of both civilian and military institutions. On 8-12 January 2023, NATO trained Jordan Armed Forces to further the development of a whole-of-government approach to counter-terrorism.
Thirty participants from the Jordan Armed Forces and the Jordan Military Center for Counter Terrorism and Extremism (MCCTE) took part in this first ever NATO train-the-trainer Counter-Terrorism programme.
Training was held at the Center itself, as the primary body responsible for reinforcing the whole-of-government counter-terrorism approach. This civilian-military programme was tailored to Jordan's priorities under the framework of NATO's Defence and Related Security Capacity Building (DCB) Initiative, which the country has been a beneficiary of since 2014. It included topics such as current and emerging terrorist challenges; use of technologies in terrorism; terrorist tactics and strategies; terrorist methods in cyber space, and women, peace and security in a terrorist context.
In his opening address, Colonel Amjad Al-Hrout, Commander of Jordan MCCTE, stressed that the "work of the militaries in the fight against terrorism is important, but it is insufficient to sustainably defeat this threat." "Civilian-military courses like the NATO Train-the-Trainer programme are therefore essential to develop a more comprehensive approach to counter-terrorism and enhance our societal resilience" he added.
Content drew from the NATO Counter-Terrorism Reference Curriculum (CTRC), which has been developed by a multinational team of 110 experts drawn from across the world, provides high-level expertise on modern terrorist challenges and promotes effective tools for developing Counter-Terrorism strategies in NATO partner countries and beyond.
The programme also aims to reinforce in-country training capacity. It is the first step towards the conduct of joint training, by NATO and the Jordan Armed Forces, to countries from the broader Middle-East and North Africa region. The event also enabled expertise and experience sharing between NATO and the Jordan Armed Forces, ultimately contributing a safer and more resilient environment to counter terrorism.
At the opening of the course on 8 January, Gabriele Cascone, Head of the Counter Terrorism Section at NATO Headquarters, commended Jordan for "bringing together the international community in the fight against Terrorism and being a trailblazer in the cooperation with NATO in counter-terrorism".
NATO's DCB Initiative was launched in September 2014 at the NATO Summit in Wales. It helps partners improve their defence and related security capacities, as well as their resilience, thereby contributing to the security of the Alliance.
