The Aviation Historian — January 2018

F

LYING OVER THE magnificent landscapes

of a warm, exotic foreign land is an enticing

prospect for any adventurous military pilot,

and perhaps explains the appeal of joining

the air squadron of the Garde Presidentielle

Gabonaise (Gabonese Presidential Guard — GPG),

which was staffed almost entirely by personnel

from France’s Armée de l’Air (AdA).

Origins

The GPG was established on July 24, 1964, in the

wake of a failed military coup against President

Léon Mba that February. On June 4, 1970, it was

placed under the direct authority of the President

of the Gabonese Republic, Omar Bongo. Today

it remains responsible for the security and pro-

tection of the President, Ali Bongo Ondimba, both

within and outside national territory.

In 1972 two privately contracted French pilots,

René Dulac and Michel Fauconnet, spent a total

of 40hr converting to the North American T-6

in South Africa to become the GPG’s founding

pilots, the pair leaving with the arrival of former

AdA pilot Jacques Laforêt in January 1975. The

experienced Laforêt swiftly set about establishing

a “mini-squadron”, with the introduction of

military rigour and discipline. He was joined

by fellow former AdA pilot René Gras in 1975.

By this time, the GPG squadron consisted of six

T-6s (loaned by South Africa); two Aérospatiale

SA.330C Puma helicopters (including one in VIP SA.330C Puma helicopters (including one in VIP

configuration); one SA.316 Alouette III helicopter;

one Piper PA-31 Navajo Chieftain; one Grumman

seaplane and a dismantled Malmö MFI-9B Junior

(formerly in Biafra, originally SE-EUB in Sweden).

To these were added three Fouga CM.170

Magister jet trainers supplied by France, two of

which arrived in September 1975 in the hold of

a Forces Aérienne Gabonaises (FAG — Gabonese

Air Forces) Lockheed C-130, along with another

former AdA fighter pilot, Jacques Borne, and two

mechanics from French maintenance and repair

organisation SOGERMA, to reassemble them for

flight. Three helicopter pilots plus one fixed-wing

and two rotary-wing mechanics, all former AdA

crew, completed the team. It is unclear exactly

when the third Magister arrived in Gabon. The

GPG’s Magisters were distinguished from those

of the FAG by the colour of the pennant painted

beneath the cockpit — red, green or blue with a

yellow lion — and the colour of the tiptanks.

The GPG squadron’s duties consisted of aerial

reconnaissance along the country’s borders and

Sauvetage Aéro-Maritime (SAMAR — Air-Sea

Rescue) and Sauvetage Aéro-TerTerTerrestrerestre (SATER —

Air-Land Rescue) duties, in collaboration with

the FAG, but also with detachments of the AdA.

Liaison missions in Gabon and neighbouring

countries were also undertaken with the PA-31.

The Magisters were regularly used for training

with guns, rockets and bombs on the Ekwata

range, the T-6s using the range for training with

machine-guns and rocket launchers.machine-guns and rocket launchers.

In late 1975 four ex-AdA Douglas AD-4N

Issue No 22 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 61

OPPOSITE PAGE The Gabonese Presidential Guard (GPG) fleet beside the hangars at Libreville in the

early 1980s, before the retirement of the unit’s Douglas Skyraiders in 1982. BELOW North American

T-6s of the GPG taxy out for a demonstration flight during a national parade at Libreville. In the T-6s of the GPG taxy out for a demonstration flight during a national parade at Libreville. In the

background are five Skyraiders and the GPG’s Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante.

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS JACQUES BORNE COLLECTION UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED