Republican Guard (Egypt)

Egyptian Republican Guard
El-Haras el-Gomhoury
El Haras el Gomhoury
Active	1955 – present
Country	Egypt
Allegiance	Egyptian Armed Forces
Branch	Egyptian Army
Type	Praetorian Guard
Role	Armoured
Size	24,000 active duty troops
Part of	Armored Corps
Garrison/HQ	Heliopolis
Engagements	Six-Day War Yom Kippur War
Commanders
Current commander	General Mohammed Zaki
Notable commanders	Mohammed Hussein Tantawi Mohsen Fangary

The Egyptian Republican Guard is a Division level command within the Egyptian Army, designed to be an armored division with the main responsibility to defend the President of the Republic, the major presidential and strategic institutions, including the Presidential Palaces, Command centers, presidential airports. It is one of the largest Divisional commands in Egypt with a heavy emphasis on Armoured and Mechanized warfare. It is the most senior Corps in the Egyptian Army. The Republican Guard is the only division in the Egyptian Armed Forces that receives commands only from its commander and the president not from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces led by the minister of defense.

The Republican Guard is under the direct command of the Ministry of Defense. Its current commander is General Mohammed Zaki. The Republican Guard Division is the only significant military unit allowed in central Cairo, apart from the intelligence services’ military branches and Central Security.

It was created subsequent to the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 by Gen. Mohammad Laithi Nassif (1922 - 24 August 1973), on the instructions of Egypt's second President, Gamal Abdel Nasser. Its tasks were to protect the Presidency, and the national government in Cairo. Known originally as the National Guard, it was mainly a paramilitary force, but was expanded into a large military force, first at a brigade level in the 1950s and 1960s, then augmented at a division level and incorporated under the Armored Corps in 1985.

Secondary duties are to protect presidential sites and important State buildings in Cairo, provide Honor Guard and security services for the highest national personalities and important foreign guests; and responding to any rebellion, coup, or other threat to the government of the Republic.