The United Arab Emirates Armed Forces () are the armed forces of the United Arab Emirates. The armed forces have been deployed in military and humanitarian missions. Owing to their "active and effective military role despite their small personnel", the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces have been nicknamed "Little Sparta" by United States Armed Forces General and former US defense secretary James Mattis. History The United Arab Emirates military was formed from the Trucial Oman Levies which was established on 11 May 1951 and were renamed the Trucial Oman Scouts in 1956. The Trucial Oman Scouts were turned over to the United Arab Emirates as the nucleus of its defense forces in 1971 with the formation of UAE and were absorbed into a united military called the Union Defence Force (UDF). The Union Defence Force was established officially as the military of the United Arab Emirates on 27 December 1971 from a directive issued by Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. As the Union Defence Force, every emirate was responsible for the equipment and training of its own defence forces. In the event of an attack on any one of the seven emirates, the Union Defence Force would be mobilized from every emirate to defend the emirate under attack. In 1974 the name was changed to the Federal Armed F0orces. On 6 May 1976, the Federal Armed Forces were unified as a single body. May 6 is celebrated annually as the Military Union Day. As a result of the union of forces, the number of personnel formed a brigade and was referred to as the Yarmouk Brigade. After the union of the armed forces in 1976, the Yarmouk Brigade was officially renamed the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces. In 1976 the official UAE Armed Forces insignia, uniform, military academies, air force, and naval force were established and the military General Headquarters (GHQ) was formed in Abu Dhabi. UAE Armed Forces are equipped with weapon systems purchased from a variety of outside countries, including France, the United States and the United Kingdom. Some officers are graduates of the United Kingdom's Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, with others having attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, the Royal Military College, Duntroon, and St Cyr, the military academy of France. The United Arab Emirates Armed Forces participated in multiple conflicts, including the ones in the Middle East. From 1977-1979 the UAE Army