
Conceived by His Majesty in the early years of the millennium, Jordan’s King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center (KASOTC) was designed from the outset to be an international centre of excellence for counter-terrorist operators, writes Bob Morrison.
Constructed in a massive stone quarry just to the north of Amman, the Jordanian capital, KASOTC opened its doors to the world’s Special Operations Forces in 2009 and has matured into an unique training facility through which operators from around the globe can hone their skills. At the Opening Ceremony a competition was held between several Special Operations teams and subsequently this evolved into the highly popular Annual Warrior Competition (AWC).

Overhead view of the urban complex which has 56 different buildings suitable for live-fire training [© KASOTC]
This first thing which strikes one on visiting KASOTC is its sheer size – the basic training area covers 2.5 square kilometres and towering quarry cliffs surround the individual zones and ranges. In addition to an urban complex containing 56 individual buildings and a number of formal and informal shooting ranges covering distances from 50m to 500m, plus a 1,300m sniper range, KASOTC also features a number of highly specialist multi-level buildings such as Method Of Entry and Close Quarter Battle as well as an 8-storey climbing/roping tower and even a full-size Airbus airframe with airfield control tower overlooking it.

The A300 Airbus is used for hijacker take-down training – note also the airport control tower to the right [© BM]
In addition to shooting ranges, domestic & industrial buildings and the training aircraft, KASOTC also offers a 15 kilometre march & shoot cross-country circuit, a carefully constructed driving track with compound curves and high speed straights as well as limited sight curves and inclines, off-road driving tracks, a plethora of natural obstacles including vertical cliffs and loose scree inclines, and a number of man-made barriers including a deep water feature and obstacle courses. And that is probably only scratching the surface.

Image 07 ~ Although the facility has fixed shooting ranges from 50m to 500m a wide variety of improvised shooting ranges can be set up [© BM]
Watch out for forthcoming features on the 10th Annual Warrior Competition.
{ images © Bob Morrison unless noted }

The sniper range extends 1300m – here a bank of plate targets sits on the centre rack of five in the red elipse [© BM]

The Close Quarters Battle (CQB) building, nicknamed the House of Terrors, offers many challenges over five floors and can be filled with tear gas [© BM]

The KASOTC equivalent of Top Gear, minus The Stig – the High Speed Driving Track features a spectrum of road layouts to test handling skills [© BM]

US Army Special Forces tabbing around the cross country course under the blazing sun – beards are out and big moustaches are back in fashion with US SF [© BM]

The MoE building was not used this year as US Marines from 26 MEU on EAGER LION had been there just the week before blasting their way through [USMC: Cpl Jered T Stone]

Exhausted Lebanese Army SpecOps team recharge at the end of a 14K tab – note Commando Tower in background [© BM]
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