Under Al-Nahyan's leadership, he made jujitsu compulsory in schools. In 2014 he established the military draft, forcing young Emiratis to endure a year of boot camp, initially running a pilot project within his own family and making his own daughters run as the sample size by making them endure a boot camp. He invited Maj. Gen. Mike Hindmarsh, the retired former head of Australia's Special Operations Command, to help reorganize the Emirati military. According to the "New York Times", as a result of Al Nahyan's vision, the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces became the best equipped and trained military in the region apart from Israel. Under Al Nahyan's leadership, the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces also became commonly nicknamed as "Little Sparta" by United States Armed Forces General and former US defense secretary James Mattis as a result of their active and effective military role despite their small active personnel.