relying instead on volunteers to fill posts in the military and security forces. In 2007, the Yemeni government announced that it would reinstate the draft to counter unemployment; approximately 70,000 new recruits were expected to join the military. Chief of Staff April 2006 - December 2014: Ahmed Ali al-Ashwal December 2014 - 5 April 2015: Hussein Khairan 4 May 2015 - 5 September 2017: Mohammed Ali Al-Maqdashi 5 September 2017 - 8 November 2018: Brigadier Taher Ali Al-Aqili 8 November 2018 - 28 February 2020: Abdullah Salem al-Nakhai 28 February 2020 - present: Sagheer bin Aziz Defense budget Yemen's defense spending was historically one of the government's three largest expenditures. The defense budget increased from US$540 million in 2001 to an estimated US$2 billion–US$2.1 billion in 2006, to which it was probably $3.5 billion by 2012. According to the U.S. government, the 2006 budget represents about 6 percent of gross domestic product. Paramilitary forces In 2009, Yemen's paramilitary force had about 71,000 troops. Approximately 50,000 constituted the Central Security Organization of the Ministry of Interior; they are equipped with a range of infantry weapons and armored personnel carriers. 20,000 were forces of armed tribal levies. Yemen was building a small coast guard under the Ministry of Interior, training naval military technicians for posts in Aden and Mukalla. Air Force (Number of equipment needs to be verified) Navy Yemen's navy was created in 1990 when North and South Yemen united. The navy's major bases are located in Aden and Al Hudaydah; there are also bases in Mukalla, Perim Island, and Socotra that maintain naval support equipment. Yemen's navy uses over 2,000 officers and seamen to support their main bases at Aden and Al Hudaydah. A naval fortress is in construction at Al Hudaydah. Yemen early on had problems with trying to keep drugs from entering Yemen by sea. In 2006, Yemen purchased ten patrol boats based on the Australian , which were very effective at stopping smugglers from entering Yemen. In the Hanish Islands conflict, Yemen prepared its navy for an assault on the Hanish islands and on Eritrea. Eritrea accidentally destroyed a Russian ship thinking it was a Yemeni ship. However, the invasion never happened since Eritrea made agreements with Yemen which involved Eritrea taking over the islands. Yemen however, later took over Zukur-Hanish archipelago island which created further tensions with the Eritrean government but did not lead to another