During the 1973 Yom Kippur War against Israel, the army commander was Lieutenant General Saad Mamoun.

The 182nd Parachute Brigade, comprising the 81st, 85th and 89th Battalions (each composed of three companies) under the command of Colonel Ismail Azmy, was assigned responsibility for defending the area south of Ismailia against an Israeli offensive.

Azmy arrived at Nafisha with the bulk of his brigade at midnight on October 17, where he was briefed by Brigadier General Abd el-Munim Khalil, commander of Second Army.

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 October 10, 2012.

[9] See Dani Asher, The Egyptian Strategy for the Yom Kippur War: An Analysis, 2009, p.11 The attachment of the 18th Mechanised Division to the Second Field Army was verified in April 2023.