"The critical moment came on the evening of 30 January when, it is now clear, Mubarak ordered the Egyptian Third Army to crush the demonstrators in Tahrir Square with their tanks after flying F-16 fighter bombers at low level over the protesters. Many of the senior tank commanders could be seen tearing off their headsets-over which they had received the fatal orders-to use their mobile phones. They were, it now transpires, calling their own military families for advice. Fathers who had spent their lives serving the Egyptian army told their sons to disobey, that they must never kill their own people."How can you not love that they called their dads for advice?-- The Contingent Moment, Robert Farley
If you follow the link back, the discussion in comments is also interesting (and enlightening to ignorant me).
Its complicated, but basically, the lower orders of the military are filled with men who are doing their compulsory service, so its not like the American military. Every man in Egypt has to do one (I’m pretty sure its just one) year of service.
The military has always been a respected institution as well, unlike the police. The police have been thugs.
And this is also why, even under a ‘military’ government in Egypt, it seems as if elections will be possible. As the military higher-ups still have to rely on the lower echelons…