The Ministry of Defense kicked off a military exercise within the "Gulf Shield 1 Drill" being carried out by the Ministry of Defense with participation of military forces from 23 countries, in the presence of Deputy Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Mutlaq bin Salim Al-Azaima. The exercise is dubbed "Command Center Exercise". Saudi Military Forces from the Ministry of Defense; Ministry of National Guard and Ministry of Interior are participating in the Command Center Drill. It is worth mentioning that the Gulf Shield-1 exercise started last weekend for one month in the eastern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It aims to boost combat preparedness of the participating forces.