A total of 37 teams representing 24 countries from around the world are participating in a series of military exercises at the Amman’s King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Centre.
“The activities of the competition include the testing of multiple skills for the special forces, counterterrorism teams and internal security teams. Skills being tested include shooting skills, patience and endurance skills, climbing buildings, dealing with a difficult and complex environment,” says the official competition spokesperson, Ahmed al-Shomali.
The Warrior Competition is an international event held annually to promote cooperation and measure participants’ abilities and endurance under psychological and physical pressure. It tests their ability to work together in planning and executing the hardest, yet most realistic tasks and scenarios these units may face on duty.
This is the first year Officer Josh McMath and his team from the Tulsa Police Department Special Operations in Oklahoma, USA, will take part. McMath is not setting his sights on winning the competition this year, but hopes to gain some insight into how military teams from other countries perform. “We’re here to see where our shortfalls are, to learn a little bit from these military units and units from around the world, and see how we can, when we go back home how we can maybe change up some of our training and how we do things,” he says.
This year is the first time after three years that Iraq is participating. Since 2016, the Iraqi team was instead putting their skills into real-life use, fighting the Islamic State on the ground. “We hope to perform in this competition the same way we performed during the fighting (against Islamic State),” the head of the Iraqi team, Brigadier General Amer Mohammad says. Other countries taking part include Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Iraq, Kenya, and India. The Annual Warrior competition event takes place from 14 to 20 April 2019.
