The Republican Guard (French: Garde républicaine, or GR),[1] also called the Presidential Guard (French: Garde présidentielle, or PR),[2] is nominally part of the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) but is directly subordinated to the President of the Central African Republic, for whom it provides security.

During the leadership of President François Bozizé the guard largely consisted of members of his same tribe, "patriots" who helped him seize power during the 2003 coup d'état, and was estimated to number some 800 men.

[4] Since 2008 they had received training from South African and Sudanese troops, with support from Belgium and Germany, although since then the leadership has been cautious about significantly reforming the guard.

[5] Since the civil war, transitional president Michel Djotodia attempted to reform the presidential guard, which was staffed by his militia.

[10] In May 2019, a unit of the presidential guard was commissioned after being trained by Russian military instructors, the groupement spécial chargé de la protection républicaine (GSPR).