CAIRO — In October 1973, Gen. Mohamed Okasha led a squadron of French Mirage fighter jets to bomb Israeli military targets in the Sinai Peninsula. In January 2011, 38 years later, he stood in Tahrir Square carrying a banner emblazoned with his motto, “The fighters of October '73 are supporting youth of Jan. 25.” In March 2013, he co-founded a political party, The Egyptian Will Party.

“The idea of establishing a political party started with five retired military officers, now we are 200 former military men who fought alongside each other for long years. And weeks later, we became a minority among hundreds of civilians who joined the party as officials or members,” Okasha told Al-Monitor at a conference in Cairo on Saturday, May 11. Beside him sat Gen. Samir Aziz Mikhail, his fellow pilot, who was described by military historians as “the best non-Russian to fly the Meg-21 fighter jet.”

Okasha explained that their decision to go political was taken after “witnessing Egypt’s deterioration on every level. We realized that Egypt needs significantly more than protests, television appearances and words published in newspapers.”

The agenda of the newly formed party, The Egyptian Will, embodies the messages, views, demands and even the slogans chanted at more than 15 protests organized by the retired war-medal-wielding officers since the downfall of former President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.