Emiratis voluntarily join national service in droves

Emiratis voluntarily joined the national service today in droves with a determination to shoulder their national responsibilities.

The move follows the announcement to register volunteering Emirati applicants from the age group of 30-40 in light of huge responses from different age group categories seeking to volunteer to serve the country with pride and without any hesitation. 

The National Service and Reserve Authority said that the training programme for the above-mentioned age group will last only 15 weeks. It added that the huge response from citizens nationwide "is another new historic day added to the history of the UAE. The day, July 10, 2016, will be marked with honour as the day on which the first batch of volunteers joined the national service."

Staff Major General Pilot Sheikh Ahmed bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Chairman of the National and Reserve Service, congratulated President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme commander of the Armed Forces and Members of the Supreme Council, Their Highnesses Rulers of the Emirates, on this historic national occasion.

He expressed his pride in this event, which will go down in the history of the UAE as the day on which Emiratis joined the national service voluntarily, emphasising that it reflects the patriotism and loyalty to the wise leadership and homeland.

While inspecting the recruits during the reception ceremony, Sheikh Ahmed paid a tribute to them, citing their nationalism and high morale. He referred to the statement of the UAE's founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who said, "The UAE Army is the shield to protect the lives and wealth of this country."

Since the first moment of announcing the opening of registration, volunteering Emirati males have been flocking en masse to the authority to register to join the national service. This prompted the authority to extend the registration more than once to allow for the greater number of them to register.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.