It is very encouraging to see the strongly positive response from young Emiratis at the prospect of a short period of compulsory national service in the UAE armed forces for all young men, which will be voluntary for women. It has been hailed by young Emiratis as a chance to give back to the country, and also build a national resource on which the government will be able to rely in the future.
The process of moving this idea from concept to implementation has been very quick. The law enabling the start of national service was signed two days ago by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and will come into force within six months. This means that the Armed Forces do not have a lot of time to prepare suitable programmes for the two periods of nine months (for those who have finished secondary school) and two years for the rest. The armed forces will need to ensure that the young Emiratis in national service are given constructive and useful work which they can take forward into the rest of their lives. They should not be forced to months of square bashing and gruelling basic fitness training.
National service will become an important shared experience for all Emiratis, who will live and work together in the armed forces across all barriers of class, emirate and family. The unifying experience will be a very important asset for the country as it will increase the UAE citizens’ national identity, encouraging their patriotism and identification with the country and government in a positive manner.
For many it will also give them some useful skills that they can take forward into their civilian life. For some it will be the technical skills that the armed forces will require them to learn. For others it will be the ability to work together with others in focused teams, something at which the military excel. But all young Emiratis will gain a sense of how to serve their country, which is a vital national asset.
