Editing Abdullah II of Jordan (section)

==Military career==
[[File:King Abdullah II of Jordan as a young prince in 1973.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=Abdullah (age 11) in uniform with soldiers|Abdullah, age 11, during a 1973 visit to the [[Royal Jordanian Air Force]] headquarters]]
He began his military career at the [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst]] in England in 1980, while he was a training officer in the Jordanian Armed Forces.<ref name="RHC" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Teller |first=Matthew |date=26 August 2014 |title=Sandhurst's sheikhs: Why do so many Gulf royals receive military training in the UK? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28896860 |work=BBC News |access-date=1 November 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326050217/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28896860 |archive-date=26 March 2016 }}</ref> After Sandhurst, Abdullah was commissioned as a [[Second Lieutenant (Canada)|second lieutenant]] in the [[British Army]] and served a year in Britain and West Germany as a troop commander in the [[13th/18th Royal Hussars]] (now the [[Light Dragoons]]).<ref name="RHC" />

Abdullah was admitted to [[Pembroke College, Oxford]], in 1982, where he completed a one-year special-studies course in Middle Eastern affairs.<ref name="RHC" /> He joined the [[Royal Jordanian Army]] on his return home, serving as [[Jordanian military ranks|first lieutenant]] and then as platoon commander and assistant commander of a company in the 40th Armored Brigade.<ref name="cvoa" /> Abdullah took a free-fall parachuting course in Jordan, and in 1985 he took the Armored Officer's Advanced Course at [[Fort Knox]].<ref name="cvoa" /> He became commander of a tank company in the [[3rd Armored Division (Jordan)#Units|91st Armored Brigade]], with the rank of captain.<ref name="cvoa" /> Abdullah also served with the [[Royal Jordanian Air Force]]'s anti-tank helicopter wing, receiving training to fly [[Bell AH-1 Cobra|Cobra attack-helicopters]].<ref name="cvoa" />

The prince then attended the [[Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service]] at [[Georgetown University]] in Washington, D.C., in 1987, undertaking advanced study and research in international affairs.<ref name="cvoa" /> He returned home to serve as assistant commander of the 17th Royal Tank Battalion in 1989, later being promoted to major.<ref name="cvoa" /> Abdullah attended a staff course at the [[Staff College, Camberley|British Staff College]] in 1990, and served the following year in the Office of the Inspector General of the Jordanian Armed Forces as the Armored Corps representative.<ref name="cvoa" /> He commanded a battalion in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in 1992 and was promoted to colonel the following year, commanding the 40th Brigade.<ref name="cvoa" />

Abdullah met [[Rania Al-Yassin]], a marketing employee at [[Apple Inc.]] in Amman, at a dinner organized by his sister Princess Aisha in January 1993.<ref name=raniaint /> They became engaged two months later, and their marriage took place in June.<ref name=raniaint>
{{cite news|url= https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/article/the-interview-queen-rania-of-jordan-jm7tlzb3n|title= The Interview: Queen Rania of Jordan on the refugee crisis, Isis and being a Muslim woman|work= [[The Times]]|access-date= 3 January 2018|date= 30 April 2017|last1= Lamb|first1= Christina}}
</ref>

In 1994, Abdullah assumed command of Jordan's Special Forces and of other elite units as a brigadier general, restructuring them into the [[Joint Special Operations Command (Jordan)|Joint Special Operations Command]] two years later.<ref name="cvoa" /> He became a major general, attended a course in defence-resources management at the American [[Naval Postgraduate School]]<ref name="cvoa" /> and commanded an elite special-forces manhunt in the pursuit of outlaws in 1998.<ref name="bbckap" /> The operation reportedly ended successfully, with his name chanted on the streets of Amman.<ref name="bbckap" />