Commando, Home Front Command battalions drill rescue behind enemy lines

• Published date: 30 March 2021
• Date: 30 March 2021
• Author: UDI SHAHAM
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

This is the scenario that was exercised in the first-ever joint commando brigade and Home Front Command battalion drill, which was held in the Rotem training center in southern Israel.

IDF soldiers hold exercise simulating a rescue mission behind enemy lines at the Rotem training center. (Video credit: IDF Spokesperson"s Unit)

Participating were the elite Egoz unit – one of three battalions comprising the Commando Brigade – and the Ram Home Front Command Battalion, which is currently holding a series of exercises.

The drill followed lessons the army has learned from wars in Lebanon and Gaza, when Hamas and Hezbollah, bombed buildings used by IDF units and which collapsed on the soldiers.

"The background to this exercise are incidents such as the Tyre headquarters suicide car bombings, (in 1982 and 1983) the explosion in the Termit outpost in Gaza, (in 2001) and the incident of the Egoz unit on July 20, 2006, which led to soldiers being trapped under the rubble," Ram Battalion OC Lt.-Col. Oz Gina told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

"All of these brought about the need to practice such cooperation."

Gino said that in such cases, the Ram Battalion practices its expertise in search and rescue, and the commando battalion's role is to bring them to the scene and protect them.

"The operational condition for this kind of event is that there is isolation between my forces and enemy forces, and it is sterilized of explosive devices," he said.

During the drill, both units practiced joining forces, which included holding a joint situation assessment by the top commanders and exercising cooperation between the battalion's combat engineers and medical staff.

Gino mentions the fact that many of these explosion sites could sit on top of enemy attack tunnels, which...