Ahmed Badawi

Ahmed Badawi Sayyid Ahmed
Minister of Defence of Egypt
In office 14 May 1980 – 2 March 1981
President	Anwar El-Sadat
Prime Minister	Mustafa Khalil Anwar El-Sadat
Preceded by	Kamal Hassan Ali
Succeeded by	Abd al-Halim Abu Ghazala
Personal details
Born	1927 Alexandria, Egypt
Died	2 March 1981 (aged 54) Near Siwa, Egypt
Political party	Independent
Religion	Sunni Islam
Military service
Allegiance	Egypt
Service/branch	Army
Years of service	1948–1981
Rank	Field Marshal
Commands	Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
Battles/wars	1948 Palestine war Suez Crisis Six-Day War Yom Kippur War

Ahmed Bdawi Sayyid Ahmed (Arabic: أحمد بدوي سيد أحمد) was an Egyptian Field Marshal (Mushir) and The Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.^[1]

Early life

Ahmed Badawi was born in the coastal city of Alexandria in 1927. He studied commerce at Alexandria University where he obtained his bachelor's degree, he then traveled to Moscow on a scholarship to the M.V. Frunze Military Academy.

Career

He became a senior lecturer at the military academy in 1958 but then he was fired from the military service in 1967. President Anwar El-Sadat then asked him to return to military service at the same time as he became a lecturer at Ain Shams University. As a brigadier general, he commanded the 7th Infantry Division during the Yom Kippur War, and after the Third Army (Egypt) became encircled, was placed in command of the cut-off force. The isolated part of the army was made up of the 7th and 19th Infantry Divisions, plus two independent armoured brigades, on the east bank, and a mixture of units in Suez city itself.^[2]

He became the commander of the Training Institute of the Armed Forces and was then promoted to become the Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces.

On 14 May 1980, Anwar El-Sadat made him the Minister of Defence and Military Production.

Death

A few months after becoming in charge of the ministry of defence, Ahmad Badawi died, along with 12 senior officers, in a helicopter crash on 2 March 1981.

References