The Iraqi Special Republican Guard (SRG) (), also known as the Special Forces Brigade of the Presidential Palace, Republican Guard Special Protection Forces, or the Golden Division, was an elite

praetorian guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin language, Latin: ''cohortes praetoriae'') was the imperial guard of the Imperial Roman army that served various roles for the Roman emperor including being a bodyguard unit, counterintelligence, crowd control and ga ...

unit founded in either early 1992 or March 1995 in Ba'athist-era Iraq. The Special Republican Guard was controlled by the Special Security Organization and tasked with protecting

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

, presidential sites,

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, and responding to any rebellion, coup, or other threats to his power.

History

In order to prevent a coup d'état,

forbade the Special Republican Guard (SRG) from coordinating with other forces, even the regular

Republican Guard A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wit ...

or any other units were ever allowed near the SRG. The Special Republican Guard received better pay and benefits than members of the normal Republican Guard and the regular

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), also referred to as the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was formerly known as the Royal Iraq ...

. By 2002, there were reportedly 12,000 members of the SRG, drawn primarily from clans loyal to Saddam Hussein and his regime. As many as five

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

s containing 14

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s of 1,300–1,500 men each, and also included

air defense Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

, armored, and

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

were reported to be in existence at that time. In May 2003, the SRG was officially dissolved per Order 2 of the

Coalition Provisional Authority The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...

under Administrator L. Paul Bremer, in the wake of the

invasion of Iraq An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives ...

by a U.S.-led international coalition. Former members of the Special Republican Guard were later suspected of carrying out insurgent attacks on Coalition forces in Iraq after the invasion, while others went on to join Sons of Iraq home guard militias, funded, trained, equipped and operated by American forces.

Structure

The SRG had 13 or 14 battalions and ranged in troop strength from 15,000 to 26,000. This may have fallen to only 12,000 by 2002. * 1st Brigade * 2nd Brigade * 3rd Brigade * 4th Brigade * Air Defense Command * Tank Command

History

Structure

References

Further reading