Among the Emirati personalities who lived through the conditions of the seven Trucial States before their independence, and witnessed the harbingers of the establishment of the United Arab Emirates, and played an important role in unifying and building its armed forces, and was the trust of the founding leader, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God have mercy on him and his honorable sons; Major General, retired Sheikh Faisal bin Sultan Al Qasimi.
Although Sheikh Faisal has been away from the limelight for many years, after he retired from his military career, and got involved in the world of commercial, real estate and banking business, his name remained engraved in the history of his country as the first to assume the position of Undersecretary of the Ministry of Defense, and the first citizen to assume the Chief of Staff. Federal Armed Forces, not to mention his many services to his country during his tenure in other high positions.
Sheikh Faisal was born in 1940 in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, during the reign of his father, Sheikh Sultan bin Salem bin Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi (d.: 1988), who ruled the emirate from 1919 to 1948, the year in which he relinquished power to his nephew, Sheikh Saqr bin Muhammad. Al Qasimi (d.: 2010), and his grandfather, Sheikh Salem bin Sultan Al Qasimi (d.: 1919), ruled Ras Al Khaimah for a year from 1868 to 1869, and ruled the Emirate of Sharjah from April 1868 to March 1883.
He grew up with his father, and grew up among his nine brothers, as he was ranked second after his brother, Sheikh Fahim bin Sultan Al Qasimi (former Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council). He began his educational career by studying in one of the traditional schools in Ras Al Khaimah, before continuing his education at the Ahmadiyya School in Dubai and the Al Qasimia School in Sharjah, respectively.
Oman Coast Scouts
In 1954, at the age of fourteen, he joined the Oman Coast Scouts, and since then his long military career began, which saw him being sent to more than one military college, taking many courses, obtaining successive promotions, and holding various jobs and responsibilities.
It is known that the "Oman Coast Scouts" is a force established by the British protection authorities in May 1951, and its name has changed more than once. The purpose of its establishment was to carry out defense and security work. And this device began to develop slowly in terms of many equipment and tasks over the decades of the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century, and in 1971 Britain handed over its administration to the young country, so it acted as a nucleus for the establishment of its armed forces, which consisted at that time of the Abu Dhabi Defense Force, the Dubai Defense Force, the Moving Force of Ras Al Khaimah and the National Guard of the Emirate of Sharjah and the National Guard of the Emirate of Umm Al Quwain and others.
At the time of the establishment of this force, and as part of British policies to develop it and rehabilitate its military cadres, Sheikh Faisal was sent to study at the Jordanian Military College in Amman in December 1955, and the following year, after intensive courses in artillery, military maps, compass, and aerial photos, he graduated with the rank of lieutenant, to return to his homeland and works during the next four years in the “Oman Coast Force” with that military rank.
Military study in Britain
Sheikh Faisal told us in an interview with the Emirati “Al Dhafra TV” in December 2016 that, in order to transfer from the local military rank to the British military rank, he was sent in 1960 to Britain to join the “Mons Military School for Officers” in Aldershot, England, Where he excelled in his studies and training, which earned him the British military rank. After that, he returned to his homeland to continue his work in the "Oman Coast Force". Starting from 1962 and shortly before the establishment of the UAE, the man received more courses and military training in Britain. This included completing his training and education career at the Royal Military Education School in Wilton Park, Beaconsfield, joining the Small Arms School in Heath, completing his practical training at the Infantry School in Wormanster, and training with the British Expeditionary Force in Oma, Northern Ireland. His military sciences qualified him to obtain some of the promotions permitted during the time of British protection, whether in terms of military rank or career work, including sending him to the “Manama” region to work as a deputy to the British officer “Desmond Coscrove” in the Non-Commissioned Officer Training Department. Sheikh Faisal remembers those days and says, The British plan was to learn and then educate others in quick courses of no more than 14 days in order to seek their help in quelling the Green Mountain war in Oman.
Zayed meeting
In the same television interview, Sheikh Faisal talked about the circumstances of his first meeting in 1957 with Sheikh Zayed, may God have mercy on him, and he said what indicated that he was at that period exercising his military job within the “Oman Coast Force” camped at the historic Al-Jahili Fort in Al-Ain, and it happened that the occasion of Eid came, so he went with His colleagues to perform the prayer attended by Sheikh Zayed, who was at the time the ruler of the eastern region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and it seems that he drew the attention of Sheikh Zayed, so he asked about him his companion, the late “Muhammad bin Mahirum”. His Highness's residence in Qasr Al Muwaiji in Al Ain. Sheikh Faisal added that, after that meeting, his meetings with Sheikh Zayed multiplied and his knowledge of His Highness increased through His Highness's afternoon visits to the "Al Sarooj" Falaj in Al Ain for a walk, where Faisal and his military colleagues were practicing swimming.
After Sheikh Zayed took over the reins of power in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, succeeding his brother Sheikh Shakhbout in 1966, His Highness asked Sheikh Faisal to leave his military work in the “Oman Coast Force” in a friendly manner. The latter did so in 1969, and in the same year he joined Sheikh Zayed, who asked him To assume the position of Chief of the Court of His Highness' representative in the Eastern Region (Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, may God have mercy on him).
Thus, Sheikh Faisal gave up his rank and military clothes, and began working during the years 1969 and 1970 to re-establish the office of the new governor of the eastern region, and to supervise his work. However, the position did not take him far from the military. In 1971 Britain ended protection treaties with the seven emirates of the coast, which paved the way for their assembly under the banner of a single federal entity and the election of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, ruler of Abu Dhabi, as president of the nascent federal state. This period of the seventies witnessed several developments at the level of appointments, including the appointment of the eldest son of Sheikh Zayed, the late Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and Deputy Prime Minister, in addition to his local responsibilities. For these reasons, Sheikh Khalifa, may God have mercy on him, was forced to move to Abu Dhabi in 1971, accompanied by Sheikh Faisal. In the same year, the latter was appointed undersecretary of the emerging Ministry of Defense, whose portfolio was held by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in the federal ministerial formation. Thus, Sheikh Faisal recorded his name in the history of the UAE as the first undersecretary of the Ministry of Defense from 1971 to 1972. Between 1973 and 1974 he held the position of "Chief of Staff of the Abu Dhabi Defense Force".
Unification of the UAE Armed Forces
On May 6, 1976, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan and His Highness the members of the Supreme Council of the Union approved the unification of the Armed Forces under one flag and one central command, in order to consolidate the foundations of the Union and enhance its progress. Thus, the sixth of May of each year became a day when the UAE celebrates its armed forces, and Sheikh Faisal was chosen to be its chief of staff, with the rank of colonel.
In that period, Sheikh Faisal says, in one of his televised interviews, there were no armed forces in the usual sense, and there were no experiences or qualified numbers of officers to rely on in the work of training and qualifying recruits. He adds that he and his colleagues started working almost from scratch, seeking the help of some brotherly Arab cadres, after God, in order to provide technical assistance in reorganizing the structures of the federal forces and establishing their land, air and sea branches and units specialized in air defense, reconnaissance, surveillance, medical services, evacuation, signaling, transportation, logistics and warehouses, adding That before the state established its armed forces, a committee of officers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan inspected all the forces in the Emirates.
He also said that, under the directives of Sheikh Zayed, the UAE armed forces began to develop year after year until they became equal to other Arab armies, by sending citizens to military colleges in Britain, Egypt, Jordan and Pakistan, and purchasing the latest weapons and military equipment from the United States, Britain, France and others. .
The Arab Organization for Military Industrialization
Among other positions that Sheikh Faisal held was the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the “Arab Authority for Military Industrialization” in Egypt, for a short period that extended from 1978 to 1979, succeeding the Egyptian politician Ashraf Marwan, who was chosen in 1975 as the first president of the authority.
It is worth noting that this authority was established in 1975 with a capital exceeding one billion dollars to build an Arab industrial and technological base for defense and military industrialization. The weapon was to be manufactured in Egypt and supplied to the other participating countries. However, its work came to a standstill after the Arab boycott of Egypt due to the Camp David Accords in 1979, and this continued until 1993 when Saudi Arabia and the UAE gave up their shares in the authority, valued at that time at $1.8 billion, to Egypt, and the authority became wholly owned by the Egyptian government alone.
Establishing Zayed II Military College
Among the works that are mentioned by Sheikh Faisal, is his contribution to the establishment of the Zayed II Military College. And about this, he said in an interview with the Emirati magazine “Dir’ al-Watan” (1/4/2012): “The establishment of a military college was the goal that Sheikh Zayed sought in the seventies, so at that time we consulted British experts who assured us that the establishment of a military college for the army It consists of 3000 personnel, which is almost impossible, but he, may God have mercy on him, did not despair, and His Highness handed me a written message to King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan, who ordered to send a number of Jordanian officers, so the military college was established under the name (Zayed II Military College) and under the leadership of Brigadier General Saleh Mustafa Abu Al-Haija, who took command from 1972 to 1975, and Field Marshal Abdel-Hafez Marei Al-Ka’abneh, Lieutenant General Salem Muhammad Al-Turk, Lieutenant General Aref Muhammad Fadel and Brigadier General Ahmed Mahmoud Abdel-Hadi, who had great credit for the establishment of the college as well as its development during the first years of its establishment, took turns to take over. Citizen leaders after them ».
In the same dialogue, he also talked about the extent of attention that Sheikh Zayed attached to the process of building a strong federal army. He said that His Highness was always following up on everything related to the armed forces, and he was always asking about the latest developments in it, the number of officers and individuals, and the types of weapons used in training. “I even took the daily budget list of the armed forces with me whenever I went to his council, may God have mercy on him.”
Local and Arab decorations and medals
During his career, and because of his influential personality, his military role, loyalty and devotion, Sheikh Faisal won many local and Arab decorations and medals, including: the Long Service Medal in the Oman Coast Force (1964), and the UAE Armed Forces Unification Medal with the First Class Military Medal from Sheikh Zayed (1964). 1976), the Order of Merit of the First Class from Egypt from President Anwar Sadat (1972), the Order of Hussein bin Ali from Jordan (1972), the Jordanian Order of the Kawkab of the First Class from King Hussein of Jordan (1974), and the Order of Alawi in the rank of a senior officer from Morocco From King Hassan II (1974), and the Order of the Two Niles from Sudan from Field Marshal Jaafar Al-Numeiri (1974).
Regarding the difficulties that the UAE faced when establishing its armed forces, except for what we mentioned above, Sheikh Faisal touched on the life of the military in the era of the beginnings, and he said: “In addition to the tasks assigned to the military, he had to secure his daily strength and provide the necessary drinking water, which is not a simple matter. In light of the scarcity of water due to the lack of artesian wells in that period. As we moved from one area to another in the desert using primitive mechanisms, without paved roads or lighting at night, the soldier had to live in difficult conditions that required hard work and high physical effort.
Written by: Dr. Abdullah Al-Madani abu_taymour@
