AMMAN, Jordan

Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Wednesday designated Yousef Huneiti as the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, the state-run media reported. 

Maj. Gen. Huneiti -- former commander of Royal Jordanian Air Force -- replaced Lit. Gen. Mahmoud Friehat with a Royal Decree, according to Petra News Agency.

Huneiti is the 17th Jordanian army chief since 1923, the date when the “Emirate of Eastern Jordan” was founded, according to the Jordanian Armed Forces’ website.

Huneiti is the first-ever chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordan Armed Forces that comes from the Royal Jordanian Air Force.