UAE to open Gulf region's 'first Sandhurst-like' military university
Abu Dhabi will open its first military university in January, local reports said, in a bid to train new armed forces officers.
The university, named Zayed Military University, will offer military cadets a combination of academic courses and military training, officials said, adding it will be the first in the Gulf region to offer full undergraduate degrees.
"This is the first university where cadets can be trained in any military branch under one roof," Brig Gen Waleed Al Naqbi, deputy commandant of the university told The National.
The first class of 100 male Emirati military students are expected to enrol in January 2022.
There will be future plans to start enrolling women candidates in the near future, reports said.
"In the near future, we will be having more degrees in different specialities to fulfil the future market needs in the defence and security sector," Al-Naqbi said.
In 2012, President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued the decree for the establishment of a military university, which many said will be similar to the UK-based Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
According to the Global Militarisation Index by the Bonn International Centre for Conversion (BICC), the Middle East is the most militarised region in the world with all of its countries ranked among the top 40.