The Arabization of the Jordanian Army command (Arabic: تعريب قيادة الجيش العربي, Ta'reeb Qiyadat Al-Jaysh Al-Arabi) saw the dismissal of senior British officers commanding the Arab Legion by King Hussein and the subsequent renaming of the Legion into the Jordanian Armed Forces on 1 March 1956.
Glubb Pasha, the Arab Legion's British commander, was replaced with Major General Radi Annab, who became the first Arab commander of the Arab Legion. Hussein's intentions to Arabize the Army command were to replace British officers with Jordanian officers, assert political independence from Britain, and improve relations with neighboring Arab states that viewed the British with suspicion.
The British government initially responded furiously, but chose not to take further action against Jordan after they realized that Hussein's decision did not mean abandoning the British as an ally. The Jordanian streets witnessed large celebrations when the decision was made public, and relations between Jordan and other Arab states improved thereafter.
An annual celebration is held on 1 March in Jordan to mark the event.[1]