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 governor (head of government of a republic) is commander-in-chief of their respective National Guard in peacetime, with the President of the Arab Union becoming acting commander-in-chief during war.

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).