The program had a major impact on the participating students; it was a huge success, motivating and preparing them for their university studies. It proved to us that a domestic military high school would have a significant and positive impact on building up young people’s capabilities and opening them up to future opportunities. The Private Sector On the eve of my departure from the National Guard, I brought a proposal from Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, the CEO and Chairman of the conglomerate Abdul Latif Jameel, to King Abdullah (then the Crown Prince) regarding the construction of a private sector-funded training sector. After some delays in securing land for the center, King Abdullah ordered that a plot next to the King Khalid National Guard Hospital on Makkah Road be earmarked for the center. This decision marked the beginning of the National Guard’s partnership with the private sector and helped further the goal of supporting human development and creating the right foundation for continued growth. The National Guard pioneered in building partnerships in the private sector. In 2000, a first-of-its-kind seminar was held at the Western Sector focusing on these partnerships and the concept of build- operate-transfer. In particular, the seminar examined this concept for the Al Sharaya apartment project. The property, which had previously stifled the city’s development , was divided into a commercial section and two other sections to be developed and transferred to civilian ownership. [22] The goal was to transfer ownership to members of the National Guard and citizens, and create investment opportunities for businesses. This model could then be replicated in other military and security organizations that own large swaths of unproductive land, which could in turn be utilized to alleviate the housing deficit while stimulating private sector involvement and investments. Learning about The Land One of the many intangible benefits of working at the National Guard was how it helped me get to know my country and its people better. In 1982, I started touring various parts of the Arabian Peninsula. I championed the Unification Exhibition, which consisted of 56 paintings depicting historical sites in the Kingdom. Over the course of 10 years, I traveled around with the talented American artist Gerhart Lippman, the man behind these masterpieces – sites which were also documented by renowned Brazilian photographer Humberto da Silveira. The paintings were put on display at the historical Nassif House, now a museum in the heart of Jeddah, in an exhibition inaugurated in 1999 by the Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed, marking the centennial anniversary of King Abdulaziz retaking Riyadh. [23] I also had the opportunity to document the King’s journey through a series of trips. King Abdullah once instructed me to go with a group of archaeologists, businessmen, and National Guard servicemembers on a fact-finding mission after the release of the tendentious book The Gold of Exodus . The book, written by Howard Blum, featured the famous Jabal Al-Lawz, a mountain located in northwestern Saudi Arabia near the Jordanian border, and the journey of the Prophet Musa (Moses). With these avid Saudi Arabia enthusiasts, we took off on a journey across the Kingdom, traveling to the furthest reaches north, south, east, and west of the country, as well as deep into its interior regions. We explored its treasures, its people, urban areas, natural wonders, ruins, and customs and traditions. Seeing my homeland and its people up close and personal like this made me realize how vast the Kingdom is, how rich and more wondrous than I had ever imagined.
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