Israeli Security Forces - Israeli Engineering Corps
In the Israeli
Defence Forces the combat engineers are organized under the Israel
Engineering Corps חיל ההנדסה הקרבית . In addition to IEC sappers, each
infantry brigade has an engineering company trained with basic
engineering and EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) skills. IEC sappers
are often attached to other units (such as armored divisions or infanty)
in order to help them breach through obstacles and handle explosive
threats.
The IEC beret's color is silver grey and their symbol include a sword on
a tower with a blast halo on the background. The IEC mottos are "Always
First" and "The hard - we shall do today, the impossible - we shall do
tomorrow".
Roles
Beside extensive training in basic combat engineering, IEC are
specialized and go through advanced training in their profession. The
professions are:
Armored bulldozers are standard combat engineering tools, as they can
perform construction, destruction and EOD missions under heavy fire.
* Sapper: trained with all the basic engineering skills and also trained
at high infantry level. Their main role is to breach through terrain
obstacles (natural and artificial) and enable ground forces to advance
in the battle field. They are trained to supply close combat support for
both armored fighting vehicles and infantry. Some of them are trained in
driving the IEC standart CEV: the IDF Puma.
* Engineering Vehicles Operator (EVO): less combatant but nonetheless
important, these soldiers are skilled in the operation of heavy
mechanical equipment and engineering vehicles such as heavy bulldozers,
excavators, cranes, tractors and mine-breaching devices. Called צמ"ה (TZAMA)
in Hebrew.
* Bulldozer Operators: belong to the EVO, these soldiers are operating
the IDF armored Caterpillar D9 bulldozers, including under heavy fire.
Their roles are versatile and differ according to the units whom they
are attached. The D9 operators perform construction, destruction,
breaching and EOD missions while assisting to tanks, infantry and even
special forces during battle.
* NBC Disposal: called "purifiers", they are expert in handling nuclear,
biological and chemical threats.
* EOD experts: the Explosive Ordnance Disposal are experts in detonating
explosives without damage. Among their equipment you can find the Barret
M82A1 and remote-control EOD robots with shotguns and mechanic-arms. The
EOD are the military equivalent of the police's bomb squad. In the IDF,
they are a part of the elite Engineering unit Sayeret Yaalom.
* Demolition experts: they are specially trained in blowing up things in
the most accurate and effective way. They explode things ranging from
cellular phones and doorlocks up to tanks and large buildings. In the
IDF, the demolition experts are united in Sayeret Yaalom (Sayeret is the
Israeli name for SF elite unit) and therefore gain high infantry
training as well.
* Fortification experts: assigned on designing and overseeing the
construction of bases, outposts, bridges and fortifications.
Construction itself is usually done by the EVOs.
* Counter-Tunnels experts: established in 2003 by the late Cptain Aviv
Hakani, these IEC soldiers are expert in finding smuggling tunnels and
demolishing them. They operate in Rafah during the al-Aqsa Intifada and
received recommendation of honor for their activity. The Rafah tunnel
team was united with the IEC elite unit Sayeret Yaalom.
History
The Israeli Engineering Corps ( IEC חה"ן ) are based upon the sabotage
unit of the Palmach and the tractors operators units of the Israeli War
of Independence. In the first years, the IEC drew their soldiers mainly
from Jews who served in the British Royal Engineers.
The IEC have record of great professional achievements and
breaking-through decorations. The Engineering Corps' most famous
operation is the breaching of the Suez Canal in Yom Kippur War.
In the Israeli wars
In the Israeli War of Independence, the IEC blasted bridges over the
Jordan River and the streams of the southern Coastal plain in order to
stop the advance of the Arab armored forces into the Israeli civilian
rear. The IEC also helped in breaching the "Burma Road" into the sieged
Jerusalem.
In the 1956 Sinai war the IEC destroyed the Egyptian military
infrastructure in the Sinai Peninsula and were awarded with a battalion
recommendation of honor (TZALASH).
In the 1967 Six Day War the IEC stormed the Jordanian fortification the
walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. After the Israeli annexed the entire
Old City, the IEC removed landmines planted in the city by the
Jordanians. This was the first war in which Caterpillar D9 bulldozers
were employed by the IEC.
After the war, the IEC helped to build a fortification line of defense
along the Suez Canal and was awarded with Israel Prize for security. The
Israeli Engineering Corps was the first corps to ever win such an award.
In the 1973 Yom Kippur War the IEC battalions attached to Ariel Sharon's
armored Brigade breached the Suez Canal and built bridges over it. This
effort enabled Sharon and Avraam Eden "Bern" armored divisions to pass
the canal and surround the 3rd Egyptian Army, forcing it to surrender.
The bridging of the canal is regarded by many as the turning point of
the war in the southern front. On the northern front, an IEC Caterpillar
D9 bulldozer was the first ever motorized vehicle to reach the peak of
the Hermon.
In the 1982 Operation Peace for Galilee the IEC worked intensively to
breach ways and open routes to Israeli forcing, including the disarming
of many landmines and IEDs. They were also responsible for building
fortifications and outposts.
In the 1991 Gulf War, the NBC purifiers of the IEC were on a "code red"
alert for disarming Iraqi Scud missiles, armed with non-conventional
warheads.
The October 2000 Lebanon abduction
On October 7, 2000 three Israeli combat engineering soldiers were
kidnapped by Hezbollah on Shebaa Farms, a territory in Southern Lebanon
occupied by Israel for security reasons and claimed by Lebanon. The
soldiers, Beni Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Sawaed, suffered fatal
injuries during their abduction. Their bodies were retrieved in 2004 at
a prisoner swap deal with Hezbollah.
A series of accusations was made against the United Nations Interim
Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for having cooperated with the abduction by
press and partisan web sites. Those accusations stem from a video, whose
existence was originally denied by U.N. officials, recorded by Indian
peacekeepers one day after the abduction. The video, which the U.N.
agreed to provide to Israeli officials in June 2001 with civilian faces
blurred, showed abandoned vehicles with fake U.N. license plates and
uniforms, and Hezbollah supporters intercepting U.N. efforts to retrieve
the vehicles. A U.N. investigation also found no evidence to support
accusations of peacekeepers involvement in the abduction. Although the
bereaved families met with Kofi Annan, they refused to accept the UN
version. On September 2004, the bereaved families announced their
intention to sue the UN, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria and Lebanon for their
parts in the abduction.
The al-Aqsa Intifada
During the al-Aqsa Intifada which erupted in September 2000, the IEC
were employed vastly. The EOD squad had to disarm many Palestinian IED
explosive charges and booby traps. In many cases, the IEC also detonated
explosive belts captured on Palestinian suicide bombers. The IEC also
dynamited Palestinian houses, bomb labs and smuggling tunnels.
However, the IEC were most known for operating the armored IDF
Caterpillar D9 bulldozers, which are cited by many Israelis as a key
factor in keeping IDF casualties low and successfully fighting
terrorism. On the other side, for Palestinians, the bulldozers became a
nightmare, as they bulldozed many Palestinian buildings and shrubbery,
and were almost impervious to Palestinian attacks. The IEC bulldozers'
operators unit received an honor of recommendation for its activity in
Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield.
Bulldozers were also massively employed in Rafah to counter terrorist
smuggling tunnels. Human Rights Watch published a report criticizing the
extensive destruction of Palestinian houses in the southern Gaza strip,
and said it was unlawful, claiming that Israel uses the Palestinian
smuggling tunnels as a pretext to create a "buffer zone" along the
Gaza-Egypt border. In Rafah, the IEC formed a special unit, designated
for searching and destroying smuggling tunnels. They also received an
honor of recommendation, for their conduct.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_Engineering_Corps
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