UAE & PGC.

This is coolbert:

Following an ancient and venerable tradition, the United Arab Emirates hiring foreigners for their special operations military units. Almost in the manner of the "military slave" Mameluke from a much prior Islamic period. Thanks to Strategy Page.

"Special Operations: The Mysterious UAE Commandos"

"September 2, 2015:  On August 22nd UAE (United Arab Emirates) commandos In Yemen found and rescued a British citizen who had been held captive by Islamic terrorists for 18 months. This was one of the few times the UAE admitted publicly that it had a SOC (Special Operations Command) and commandos capable to finding and rescuing someone held captive by Islamic terrorists. The UAE has been particularly secretive about its special operations force."

"The UAE . . . in 2010 appeared to be recruiting non-Moslem foreigners for a special security battalion that may or may not be involved with SOC. By 2011 this battalion of 800 troops and appeared to be composed of Western contractors who were already combat veterans. This force was recruited from men who had combat experience and were then organized as a counter-terrorism and rapid reaction force . . . It is known that the head of the PGC [Presidential Guard Command (PGC)] is a retired Australian general who spent most of his career in special operations."

Those Mamelukes from time of yore foreigners and "slaves" but with qualification. These men constituting the UAE special operations unit hired guns and not slaves as that word commonly, generally and ordinarily understood. "Mysterious" as of indeterminable nationality, perhaps Nepalese [Ghurkha], Fijian, British [SAS].

See previous blog entries regarding the topic of the Islamic military slave:

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2012/05/military-slaves.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2014/07/mamelukes.html

Baybars himself would stand tall in such company!

coolbert.