US Marines and soldiers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sharpened their combat coordination during a May 6 to 8 training exercise at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California.

Conducted as part of Exercise Pacific Inferno 25, the drill focused on close‑air support, indirect fire and combined arms operations.

The UAE Presidential Guard (UAE‑PG) participated in the Unit Enhancement Training (UET) exercise alongside US Marines, strengthening interoperability and reaffirming the enduring military partnership between the two nations.

UET is part of a long-standing US Marine Corps engagement aimed at improving the tactical proficiency, interoperability and readiness of partner forces.

The UAE‑PG has participated in UET missions since at least 2024 in bilateral exercises alongside the US teams at Camp Pendleton and Camp Lejeune.

This year's iteration built on the successes of UET 24‑1, which included counterinsurgency scenarios, reconnaissance and individual skills training.

Working together

The goal of UET is to deepen military-to-military ties, strengthen partner relations and improve tactics and procedures to work together.

The recent training at Camp Pendleton focused on enhancing precision in close-air support, refining ground-to-air communications and sharpening decision-making under pressure in a simulated combat environment.

The training tested both technical proficiency and the ability to operate as cohesive teams in dynamic environments.

Marines and Emirati soldiers worked side‑by‑side to identify targets, relay coordinates and manage inbound aircraft -- including UH‑1Y Venom and AH‑1Z Viper helicopters.

A key component of UET is ensuring partner forces understand US chain-of-command structures and digitized fire-control systems.

Marines shared methods for establishing fire plans, adjusting indirect fire and directing close-air support in dynamic scenarios, reinforcing precision and composure under pressure.

The exercise also emphasized combined arms offensive operations and counter‑insurgency doctrine.

It included infantry maneuvers, reconnaissance sweeps, indirect fire tasks and air-ground integration, which all worked to sharpen tactical readiness and combat effectiveness.

Reinforcing partnership

Joint exercises enhance the US-Emirati partnership, building rapport among the nations' forces and refining combined tactics and operations.

The UAE is one of the United States' key military partners in the Middle East. The two countries have had close ties and cooperation for the past five decades.

The UAE hosts US military personnel at its military facilities including at Jebel Ali port, al-Dhafra air base and naval facilities at Fujairah, according to Congressional Research Service.

The two nations regularly take part in joint exercises. The bilateral engagement is reflected across the planning, execution, and after-action phases of each training exercise, aimed at embedding interoperability at every level.