Israeli Engineering Corps
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| Israeli Engineering Corps | |
|---|---|
 Israeli Combat Engineering Corps symbols |
|
| Active | 1947 - today |
| Country | Israel |
| Branch | GOC Army Headquarters |
| Type | Combat Engineering |
| Role | Combat Engineering, EOD, counter-NBC |
| Part of | Israel Defense Forces |
| Nickname | "Muhandesim", "engineers" |
| Motto | "Rishonim Tamid" ("Always First") |
| Colors | Silver (light gray) berets |
| March | "Handasa Karvit Theme" |
| Mascot | "BobCat" panther |
| Battles/wars | Suez War, Yom Kippur War (Operation Abirey Lev - breaching the Suez Canal), Al-Aqsa Intifada, Battle of Jenin 2002, 2006 Israel-Lebanon War |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Brigadier General Shimon Daniel |
| Notable commanders |
Emmanuel Shahar, Elhanan Klein, Avishay Katz |
The Israeli Engineering Corps are the combat engineering forces of צה"ל - the Israeli Defence Forces.
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 infantry) 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".
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[edit] Roles
Beside extensive training in basic combat engineering, IEC are specialized and go through advanced training in their profession. The professions are:
- 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 standard 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 Caterpillar D9 armoured 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.
Puma is a heavy armed engineering vehicle, used to transfer Combat Engineering Corps through minefields or a hostile urban terrain.
Armored bulldozers are standard combat engineering tools, as they can perform construction, destruction and EOD missions under heavy fire.
- 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 Barrett 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 then 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 fortifications, which were the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. After the Israelis 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 the Israel Prize for security. The Israeli Engineering Corps were 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 in "Operation Knights of Heart" while carrying tanks and paratroopers across the canal with Gillois amphibious tank-carriers. 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 Operation Peace for Galilee the IEC worked intensively to open routes to Israeli forces. Their duties also included the disarming landmines and IEDs as well as 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.
[edit] The October 2000 Lebanon abduction
On October 7, 2000 three Israeli combat engineering soldiers were kidnapped by Hezbollah from the Shebaa Farms, in the Golan Heights. 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 were made against the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) by press and partisan web sites for having cooperated with the abduction. 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. [1] 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. [2]
[edit] The al-Aqsa Intifada
During the al-Aqsa Intifada, which erupted in September 2000, the IEC were employed 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.
For further discussions see: al-Aqsa Intifada, Armored bulldozer, Operation Defensive Shield, Operation Rainbow, Jenin.
[edit] See also
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