Meet Dubai Police officer who is UAE first to graduate from UK Defence Academy
She started her career with her father going to aviation shows when she was 13. Lieutenant Nouf Al Baloushi is an aviation expert. She’s the youngest Emirati ever to register and complete the postgraduate course in the UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence Academy, with a Master’s degree in Engineering Design and Simulation of Defence Systems from Cranfield University, aged 25.
‘I’ve been interested in aviation ever since I was a little girl,’ Nouf said. "I was attracted to this field by the aviation shows I went to with my father. I even started to make my own drones, I was doing some DIY stuff — everything from the pilot to the battery."
She has been fascinated by technology from the beginning thanks to her father, a mechatronics engineer and part of the first Emirati team to build drones in 2009.
Nouf’s journey started at the Applied Technology High School where she studied aerospace and aviation engineering. She started work with the Dubai Police in 2022 after graduating from college. ‘When I started out I didn’t go into the military but I went into police. I ended up in the Air Centre for Destructive Aircraft, our mission is omnipresent and direct," she said.
As she said about her time in the postgraduate programme: "It was scary but exciting being the first Emirati police officer to enter this field. I had my hiccups with military language and terms I did not know. But I learned and changed in my spare time".
Nouf also points out how meaningful her success is: ‘It’s a privilege to stand not only for myself, but for my country and the history of it. I want to project a good image and show Emirati women can do this."
She argued that her background in defence design and simulation is of paramount importance to improve operational readiness and tactical decisions in the police service. ‘Every challenge made me stronger and stronger.
Major General Abdullah Ali Al Ghaithi, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Operations Affairs, congratulated her on the achievement and said leadership was behind special training of police officers. "Standardized training helps our soldiers to respond to security threats," he said.
"She has skills that are essential to the development of our forces and effective command under fire," said Brigadier Turki bin Faris, Director General Department of Operations. The union of ambition and opportunity was Nouf’s example. "I will continue to play my part in Dubai Police’s continued success and contribution to the society," she concluded.
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