National Guard (Arab Union)

The National Guard (Arabic: الحرس الوطني al-ḥaras al-waṭanī) is an umbrella command of the 20 militias each raised by one of the Arab Union's 20 republics—each republic has its own National Guard apparatus consisting of regular militiamen and several special forces "rapid insertion" units. Each premier (head of government) of a republic is acting commander-in-chief of that republic's National Guard, or as chiefs of staff when the President of the Arab Union assumes the role of commander-in-chief of all 20 republican National Guard formations alongside his permanent role as commander-in-chief of the regular military, namely the Union Defence Forces (UDF). The latter only occurs during major armed conflicts within Arab Union territory, or less commonly when the National Guard is needed for support of Arab Army regular forces deployed abroad. The switch of the role of commander-in-chief of the National Guard to or from the presidency is done by unilateral presidential executive order, in accordance with part II, article 11-i to vii of the Constitution of the Arab Union.

National Guard personnel frequently partake in training exercises, sometimes together with UDF formations where relevant. All 20 republics have a unique National Guard formation which is led by the republic's respective National Guard Authority and ultimately the contemporary commander-in-chief (a premier or the President).

Each National Guard Authority answers directly to the President of the Arab Union through the General Defence Staff, functioning as a parallel hierarchy to the Ministry of Defence and subordinate Union Defence Forces. The National Guard maintains a garrison in all large and many small cities, recruiting personnel from within the local community which it is responsible for defending.

National Guard personnel are similar to reservists in that they typically maintain a separate full-time occupation, training with their units on weekends and holidays; however, the National Guard is responsible for the first-line defence of its area of responsibility, meaning personnel are required to report for duty at any time in the event of armed conflict or other serious situations in their locality.

The National Guard has a total of 1,344,580 personnel as of January 2019, with the Egyptian National Guard accounting for the most members (approx. 330,000) and the Bahraini National Guard the least (approx. 23,000).