By December 1939, all mobile troops had been stripped from the Armée des Alpes, moved north to the main front against Germany, and his general staff much reduced. Olry was left with three Alpine divisions, some Alpine battalions, the Alpine fortress demibrigades, and two Alpine chasseurs demibrigades with 175,000-185,000 men. Only 85,000 men were based on the frontier: 81,000 in 46 battalions faced Italy, supported by 65 groups of artillery and 4,500 faced Switzerland, supported by three groups of artillery. Olry also had series-B reserve divisions: second-line troops, typically comprising reservists in their forties. Series-B divisions were a low priority for new equipment and the quality of training was mediocre. The Armée des Alpes had 86 sections d'éclaireurs-skieurs (SES), platoons of 35 to 40 men. These were elite troops trained and equipped for mountain warfare, skiing and mountain climbing.