As of April 2001, the C.A.R. armed forces numbered about 3,000, including army, navy, air force, gendarmerie, national police, Presidential Security Unit (UPS), and local police personnel. An estimated 1,200 members of the army and gendarmerie fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo following the failed coup of May 2001. Under military restructuring plans formulated 1999-2000, the civilian Minister of Defense now controls and directs all armed forces, including the Presidential Security Unit, which had previously been seen as a militia supporting the president. Working with the French, the C.A.R. military is attempting to provide professional training and decentralize its troops in an effort to combat road bandits, thievery, and poaching throughout the C.A.R. territory. There also are plans underway to encourage some voluntary demobilization and recruitment of more capable and ethnically balanced personnel.