Soldiers from the Kansas National Guard arrived over the weekend in Saudi Arabia to take part in a bilateral exercise with the Saudi military forces.

The exercise, called Friendship One, will include 180 soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 137th Infantry Regiment under the command of Lt. Col. Anthony Mohatt. They will provide armor and infantry platoons along with support units to support the validation of a Saudi Land Forces armor brigade.

This is the first time such an exercise has been conducted between the U.S. military and the Royal Saudi Land Forces and the first time since 1991 that Americans and Saudis have taken part in a large-scale military exercise together.

The Kansas unit will take part in five days of preparation followed by nine days of “force on force” exercises that will put U.S. and Saudi troops against “hostile” forces played by other Saudi units.

The Kansas soldiers will return March 17. The battalion has a total of 1,180 soldiers, including companies in Lawrence. No information was available about whether soldiers from Lawrence would be participating.