Egyptian Army

Egyptian Army

Egyptian Army Insignia
Active
Country Arab Republic of Egypt

The Egyptian Army is the largest service branch within the Egyptian Armed Forces and holds power in the current Egyptian government. It is estimated to number around 379,000, in addition to 479,000 reservists for a total of 858,000 strong.[1] The modern army was created in the 1820s, and during the twentieth century has fought four wars with Israel (in 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973). Furthermore, in 1991 Egyptian units took part in Operation Desert Storm, the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.

Contents

History

For military arrangements in antiquity, see Military history of Ancient Egypt.

Ottoman and post Ottoman

The modern Egyptian army was formed in the 1830s by Muhammad Ali of Egypt. He sought to split Egypt away from the Ottoman Empire, and to do this he brought in European weapons and expertise and built an army that defeated the Sultan and seized control over Egypt, Syria, and parts of Arabia.[2] The Egyptian Army was involved in the following wars during the Muhammad Ali dynasty:

But the Europeans intervened on the Sultan's behalf, and following their intercession the Egyptian army languished until Britain took control of Egypt in the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War. Egypt was involved in the long-running 1881-99 Mahdist War in the Sudan.

Nasser

After the defeat of the Egyptian army in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, a revolutionary organization was created secretly by the Egyptian officers under the name of Free Officers Movement. This Free Officers Movement, masterminded by Nasser seized power from King Farouk of Egypt in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. The Free Officers then forced the British troops based in the Suez Canal to leave Egypt in what became known later as Anglo - Egyptian Treaty (1954), marking the end of Britain's military presence in Egypt. During the Cold War, the army actively fought in the 1956 Suez Crisis, the North Yemen Civil War from 1962 to 1967, the 1967 Six Day War, the 1969-1970 War of Attrition, the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and the 1977 Libyan–Egyptian War.

Within three months of sending troops to Yemen in 1962, Nasser realized that this would require a larger commitment than anticipated. By early 1963, he would begin a four-year quest to extricate Egyptian forces from Yemen, using an unsuccessful face-saving mechanism, only to find himself committing more troops. A little less than 5,000 troops were sent in October 1962. Two months later, Egypt had 15,000 regular troops deployed. By late 1963, the number was increased to 36,000; and in late 1964, the number rose to 50,000 Egyptian troops in Yemen. Late 1965 represented the high-water mark of Egyptian troop commitment in Yemen at 55,000 troops, which were broken into 13 infantry regiments of one artillery division, one tank division and several Special Forces as well as paratroop regiments. All the Egyptian field commanders complained of a total lack of topographical maps causing a real problem in the first months of the war.

Sadat and Mubarak

Before the June 1967 War, the army divided its personnel into four regional commands (Suez, Sinai, Nile Delta, and Nile Valley up to the Sudan).[3] The remainder of Egypt's territory, over 75%, was the sole responsibility of the Frontier Corps. After the 1967 debacle, the army was reorganized into two field armies, the Second Army and the Third Army, both of which were stationed in the eastern part of the country.

It has been argued that only the relatively good performance of the Egyptian Army in the 1973 war, especially during the crossing of the Suez Canal (Operation Badr) and in the Battle of Suez, which allowed the Egyptians to claim victory and take part in the 1977 Camp David Accords without losing face. The army had an estimated strength of 320,000 in 1989. About 180,000 of these were conscripts.[4] Beyond the Second Army and Third Army in the east, most of the remaining troops were stationed in the Nile Delta region, around the upper Nile, and along the Libyan border. These troops were organized into eight military districts. Commando and paratroop units were stationed near Cairo under central control but could be transferred quickly to one of the field armies if needed. District commanders, who generally held the rank of major general, maintained liaison with governors and other civil authorities on matters of domestic security.

Decision making in the army continued to be highly centralized during the 1980s.[4] Officers below brigade level rarely made tactical decisions and required the approval of higher-ranking authorities before they modified any operations. Senior army officers were aware of this situation and began taking steps to encourage initiative at the lower levels of command. A shortage of well-trained enlisted personnel became a serious problem for the army as it adopted increasingly complex weapons systems. Observers estimated in 1986 that 75 percent of all conscripts were illiterate when they entered the military.

Since the 1980s the army has built closer and closer ties with the United States, as evidenced in the bi-annual Operation Bright Star exercises. This cooperation eased integration of the Egyptian Army into the Gulf War coalition of 1990-91, during which the Egyptian II Corps under Maj. Gen. Salah Mohamed Attia Halaby, with 3rd Mechanised Division and 4th Armoured Division, fought as part of the Arab Joint Forces Command North.[5]

The Army conducted Exercise Badr '96 in 1996 in the Sinai.[6] The exercises in the Sinai were part of a larger exercise that involved 35,000 men in total.

Today conscripts without a college degree serve three years as enlisted soldiers. Conscripts with a General Secondary School Degree serve two years as enlisted soldiers. Conscripts with a college degree serve one year as enlisted or three years as a reserve officer.

Structure

Under the Ministry of Defence (Egypt) is the Egyptian Military Operations Authority with its headquarters in Cairo.[7] The Egyptian Armed Forces' Chief of Staff's office is in Cairo. He is also chief of staff of the army. Formally, he is also chief of staff of the air force and navy as well, but apparently the commanders of the other two services frequently report directly to the Minister of Defence/Commander-in-Chief.[8] From the Chief of Staff's office are directed three command-and-control headquarters and nine command-and-control field headquarters.

HQ, Northern Military Region: Alexandria

HQ, Eastern Military Region: El Suez

HQ, Western Military Region: Mersa Matruh

HQ, Southern Military Region: Assiut

Field armies

Corps

Order of battle

These commands include the following formations:

Ranks and insignia

Main article: Egyptian Army ranks

Commissioned Officers

Commissioned Officer rank insignia of the Egyptian Army
Second Lieutenant Lieutenant Captain Major Lieutenant Colonel Colonel Brigadier General Major General Lieutenant General Colonel General Field Marshal
Arabic: ملازم‎ Arabic: ملازم أول‎ Arabic: نقيب‎ Arabic: رائد‎ Arabic: مقدم‎ Arabic: عقيد‎ Arabic: عميد‎ Arabic: لواء‎ Arabic: فريق‎ Arabic: فريق أول‎ Arabic: مشير‎
Mulazim Mulazim Awwal Naqib Ra'id Muqaddim Aqid Amid Liwa' Fariq Fariq Awwal Mushir
Commissioned Officer Collar insignia of the Egyptian Army
Colonel Brigadier General Major General Lieutenant General and General Field Marshal

Enlisted personnel

Enlisted rank insignia Non-commissioned Officer rank insignia Warrant Officer rank insignia
Private Corporal Sergeant Staff Sergeant Warrant Officer Chief Warrant Officer
Arabic: جندي‎ Arabic: عريف‎ Arabic: رقيب‎ Arabic: رقيب أول‎ Arabic: مساعد‎ Arabic: مساعد أول‎
Gundi Arif Raqib Raqib Awwal Musa'id Musa'id Awwal
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Weapons inventory

Main article: Equipment of the modern Egyptian Army

Egypt's varied army weapons inventory complicates logistical support for the army. National policy since the 1970s has included the creation of a domestic arms industry (including the Arab Organization for Industrialization) capable of indigenous maintenance and upgrades to existing equipment, with the ultimate aim of Egyptian production of major ground systems.[10] This target was finally met with the commencement of M-1 Abrams production in 1992.[11] (Egypt had received permission to build an M-1 factory in 1984.) Prior to this, large acquisitions had included nearly 700 M-60A1 main battle tanks from the US from March 1990, as well as nearly 500 Hellfire anti-tank guided missiles.

See also

References

  1. ^ International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2006, p.183
  2. ^ Pollack, Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948-1991, Council on Foreign Relations/University of Nebraska, 2002, p.14
  3. ^ John Keegan, World Armies, Second Edition, MacMillan, 1983, p.165 ISBN 9780333340790
  4. ^ a b Library of Congress Country Study, Egypt, Army, 1990
  5. ^ http://www.tim-thompson.com/gwobjfg.html, accessed February 2009
  6. ^ http://www.gamla.org.il/english/article/1999/aug/jpost.htm
  7. ^ See also Order of Battle at http://www.orbat.com/site/cwa_open/toc.htm, accessed August 2009
  8. ^ John Keegan, World Armies, Second Edition, MacMillan, 1983, ISBN 9780333340790
  9. ^ Historical Notes and Scenarios Booklet, Suez '73: The Battle of the Chinese Farm (boardgame), Game Designers' Workshop, 1981
  10. ^ Chris Westhorp (ed.) 'The World's Armies,' Salamander Books, 1991, 'Egypt,' p.115
  11. ^ http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Sentinel-Security-Assessment-North-Africa/Procurement-Egypt.html, accessed August 2009

Further reading