Country Egypt Type Field army Founded November 1968, Egypt Branch Active duty | Allegiance Egyptian Army Colors Identification Red, White and Black Headquarters Ismailia Color Red, White and Black | |
Size approximately 90,000 active personnel Nickname(s) Second Army/ El-Geish el-Thany Engagements Yom Kippur War, War of Attrition Notable commanders Mohamed Abdel Ghani el-Gamasy, Saad Mamoun, Ibrahim El-Orabi, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Similar Egyptian Armed Forces, Egyptian Air Force, Egyptian Navy, Saudi Arabian Army, Israeli Air Force | ||
The Second Field Army is a military formation and a corps command of the Egyptian Army, formed in 1968. Army headquarters is at Ismailia.
It is usually commanded by a field commander of Lieutenant-General rank of at least 34 years' service, and reports directly to the Army General Headquarters and General Staff. The Egyptian Army's highest level of formation is categorized into the two strike field armies, four army corps, and five regional military zones. Each formation commands a number of divisions.
During the 1973 Yom Kippur War against Israel, the army commander was Lieutenant General Saad Mamoun. The army's troops crossed the Suez Canal during Operation Badr, the opening offensive of the war, along with the Third Army.
Just before the Battle of the Chinese Farm in 1973, it included on its southern flank the 21st Armoured Division commanded by Brigadier General Ibrahim El-Orabi and the 16th Infantry Division commanded by Brigadier General Abd Rab el-Nabi Hafez. In addition to being division commander Hafez also commanded forces within his division's bridgehead over the Suez Canal, which included the 21st Armoured Division. Orabi's unit included the 1st Armoured Brigade commanded by Colonel Sayed Saleh, the 14th Armoured Brigade commanded by Colonel Othman Kamel, and the 18th Mechanised Brigade commanded by Colonel Talaat Muslim. Hafez's 16th Division included the 16th Infantry Brigade, commanded by Colonel Abd el-Hamid Abd el-Sami', as well as the 116th Infantry and the 3rd Mechanised Brigades.
President Mohamed Mursi attempted to strengthen his ties with the armed forces. Accompanied by Defence Minister Abdul Fatah al-Sisi, he greeted soldiers during his visit to the 6th Armoured Division of the Second Army, near Ismailia, some 75 miles north of Cairo, on 10 October 2012.
As of February 2011, Farid Hegazy was commander of the Second Army. The army was composed of two infantry divisions, one mechanized division, two armoured divisions, one Divisional Artillery brigade, one divisional Engineering brigade, and one aviation regiment.