than a palace guard - was officially organized as follows: Special Imamate Guard: nominally a 5,000-strong unit of specially selected combatants named "Ukfa" considered absolutely loyal to the monarch; The Outback Army: this up to 50,000-strong force consisted of Zaidi tribesmen - infantry and cavalry - that served for one or two years, but brought their own rifles and provisions; The al-Army: established in 1919, this consisted of several groups of tribal levies. Each tribe included a retainer who reported on the behavior, awards, and misdeeds of members of his tribe; if a member of the tribal levy stole, or left without permission, the retainer and tribal chief compensated the imam for the loss; The Defensive Army: established in 1936, this was a draft of all able-bodied men - including urban Yemenis - capable of bearing arms and given six months of military training. With all members of the Defensive Army receiving periodic training for 10 years after their draft, this became a form of a reserve army. During the early 1920s, an ammunition factory was constructed in Sana'a by a Yugoslavian (or German) and an Australian. After his army performed dismally in fierce clashes with the British and in the 1934 Saudi-Yemeni war, the Imam saw the need to modernize and expand the armed forces eventually purchasing from Italy six tanks, 2,000 rifles, four anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) pieces and some communications gear, while Iraq provided additional rifles and communications equipment. Italy also opened a flight school in Sana'a. In 1954 Imam Ahmad also established military cooperation with Egypt, and Cairo donated a total of four cannons, six heavy machine guns, 12 light machine guns and 20 rifles to Sana'a, deploying four Egyptian army officers to serve as instructors. North Yemeni Armed Forces When the Republican Government took power in a coup much of the stability and any remaining professionalism in the army was destroyed. The new government had to build a new army to fight the royalist insurgents. First training centers and recruitment offices were established in every province. The Egyptians played a remarkable role in the process of building a modern national army through serving as advisers and giving Yemeni officers the chance to study in Egyptian academies. With help from the Egyptians four full infantry brigades were formed. These consist of the Revolution brigade, the Nasr brigade, the Unity brigade and the Al Araba brigade. One problem