Combat Engineering Corps

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(s) "Muhandesim", "Palasim", "Ksoofim"
Motto(s) "Rishonim Tamid" ("Always First"), "Rishonim BaHazit" ("First in the Front"), "Lech Beyekvot Haksufim" ("Follow the Silver ones")
Colors Silver berets
March "Handasa Kravit Theme"
Mascot(s) "BobCat" lynx
Engagements

All of Israel's wars, notable are:

Decorations Israel Defense Prize
Commanders
Current
commander		 Brigadier General Yossi Morali
Notable
commanders		 Emmanuel Shachar, Elchanan Klein, Avishay Katz, Shimon Daniel, Moshe Sheli

The Israeli Combat Engineering Corps (Hebrew: חיל ההנדסה הקרבית‎‎, Heil HaHandasa HaKravit) is the combat engineering forces of the Israel Defense Forces.

The Combat Engineering Corps beret's color is silver and its symbol features a sword on a defensive tower with a blast halo on the background. The Combat Engineering Corps mottos are "Always First" (ראשונים תמיד Rishonim Tamid) and the unofficial "The hard - we shall do today, the impossible - we shall do tomorrow".

Its roles include mobility assurance, road breaching, defense and fortifications, counter-mobility of enemy forces, construction and destruction under fire, sabotage, explosives, bomb disposal, counter-NBC and special engineering missions.

In addition to Combat Engineering Corps sappers, each infantry brigade has an engineering company trained with basic engineering and EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) skills (called פלח"הן). Combat Engineering Corps sappers and heavy equipment operators are often attached to other units (such as armored or infantry brigades) in order to help them breach through obstacles and handle explosive threats.

Roles

Beside extensive training in basic combat engineering, combat engineers through specialized training in their respective professions. These are:

IDF Caterpillar D9

Units

Yahalom operators at the conclusion of a military exercise
IDF Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozers parking near a military outpost
"Yanshuf" (Owl) Battalion troops, specializing in ABC warfare, training on the Golan Heights

Equipment

Personal gear

The Israeli combat engineers and sappers are combat soldiers and therefore have a personal gear and weapons as infantry soldiers. Their issued rifle is the M-16A1 (short 13/14 inch barrel) and M4 Carbine. Other weapons include hand grenades, M203 grenade launcher, IMI Negev, FN MAG and M2 Browning machineguns and M24 SWS and Barret M82A1 sniper rifles.

Vehicles

IDF Puma
IDF Nammer CEV

The combat engineering soldiers are mobilized by APCs and armored 4x4 vehicles. The Armoured personnel carriers include the Centurion tank-based IDF Puma - a heavy combat engineering vehicle equipped with engineering devices such as mine plows. Reserve forces use the old and versatile M113 APC. Wheeled armored vehicles include the HMMWV ("Hummer"), Wolf Armoured Vehicle and M240 Sufa.

Heavy equipment

The Combat Engineering Corps operates heavy equipment and engineering vehicles (called TZAMA in Hebrew) such as armored bulldozers, armored excavators, armored wheeled loaders, armored backhoe loaders and more. The best known tool is the heavily armored IDF Caterpillar D9 bulldozer.

Mine breaching devices

The Combat Engineering Corps has different means to breach fast through mine fields. These include personal sapper gear, vehicle-mounted mine plows and mine rollers which can be attached to engineering vehicles and tanks, CARPET air-fuel rockets and the "Tzefa Shiryon" (Hebrew for "Armor's Viper") which is extremely powerful and can clear large mine fields.

Explosives

The Combat Engineering Corps has a wide range of explosives, demolition charges and different land mines.

Robots

Yahalom SF Unit operates many types of robots, including bomb disposal robots, Reconnaissance robots and remote-controlled heavy equipment (such as "Raam HaShachar" D9N bulldozer, and the "Front-Runner" mini-cat loader).

NBC

Counter-NBC soldiers are equipped with protective suits and gas masks, chemical ID systems and purification vehicles.

History

Founding

The Combat Engineering Corps has a record of professional achievement and decoration. Its best known operation is the bridging of the Suez Canal during the Yom Kippur War. The corps was formed from the sabotage unit of the Palmach and the tractors operators units of the Israeli War of Independence. In its early years, the Combat Engineering Corps drew its soldiers mainly from Jews who had served in the United Kingdom's Royal Engineers.

ICEC chief engineer, Brigadier General David Leskov (not to be confused with Chief Engineering Officer קצין הנדסה ראשי, the commander of the ICEC), developed many combat engineering systems for the Israel Defense Forces, and won three Israel Security Prizes. He served in the IDF until his death at the age of 86, thus being the oldest soldier in the world.

In Israel's wars

In the Israeli War of Independence, the Combat Engineering Corps 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 Combat Engineering Corps also helped in breaching the "Burma Road" into besieged Jerusalem.

"Road of Heroism" memorial for the fallen soldiers of the Israeli Engineering Corps, near Hulda forest, at the Burma Road, Israel.

In the 1956 Sinai war, the Combat Engineering Corps destroyed Egyptian military infrastructure in the Sinai Peninsula and was awarded with a battalion recommendation of honor.

In the 1967 Six Day War the Combat Engineering Corps stormed Jordanian fortifications along the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. After Israel annexed the Old City, the Combat Engineering Corps removed landmines planted in the city by the Jordanians. This was the first war in which Caterpillar D9 bulldozers were employed by the corps.

After the war, the Combat Engineering Corps helped to build a fortification line of defense along the Suez Canal and were awarded the Israel Security Prize in 1969. The Israeli Engineering Corps were the first corps to win the award.

In the 1973 Yom Kippur War the combat engineering battalions attached to Ariel Sharon's armored division bridged the Suez Canal during "Operation Knights of Heart", while carrying tanks and paratroopers across the canal with Gillois amphibious tank-carriers. This effort enabled Sharon and Avraham "Bren" Adan's armored divisions to cross 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 on the southern front. On the northern front, a Combat Engineering Corps Caterpillar D9 bulldozer was the first ever motorized vehicle to reach the summit of the Hermon.

In Operation Peace for Galilee the Combat Engineering Corps worked intensively to open routes for 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 Combat Engineering Corps were on a "code red" alert for disarming Iraqi Scud missiles, armed with non-conventional warheads.

The October 2000 Lebanon abduction

"Timsach" (crocodile) Gillois amphibious tank-carrier

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]

The Second Intifada

IDF D9L, which won the Battle of Jenin 2002 during Operation Defensive Shield. The armored Caterpillar D9 bulldozers were cited by military experts as a key factor in keeping IDF casualties low.

During the al-Aqsa Intifada, which erupted in September 2000, the Combat Engineering Corps were employed to disarm many Palestinian IED explosive charges and booby traps. In many cases, the Combat Engineering EOD operators, together with Israeli Police bomb disposal operators, also detonated explosive belts captured on Palestinian suicide bombers. The Combat Engineering Corps also dynamited Palestinian houses, bomb labs and smuggling tunnels.

However, the Combat Engineering Corps were most known for operating the armored IDF Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozers, which are cited by many Israelis and military experts 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 Combat Engineering Corps bulldozers' operators unit received a recommendation of honor for its activity in Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield.

Armored bulldozers were also massively employed in Rafah to counter terrorist smuggling tunnels. Human Rights Watch published a report[3] 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 Combat Engineering Corps formed a special unit, designated for searching and destroying smuggling tunnels, it is called SAMUR and now belongs to Yaalom. They also received an honor of recommendation, for their conduct. Until the Gaza Disengagement plan, the Combat Engineering 603 battalion's Reconnaissance platoon (מחס"ר) held a record of over 70 terrorists killed in 2004-2005 on the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. They received an recommendation of honor for this achievement.

For further discussions see: al-Aqsa Intifada, IDF Caterpillar D9, Operation Defensive Shield, Battle of Jenin 2002, Operation Rainbow.

Second Lebanon War

The Combat Engineering Corps took significant part in the Second Lebanon War that erupted in 2006 after Hizbullah attacked IDF patrol, abducted two soldiers and killed another 8 with anti-tank missiles and IED that hit the rescuers.

On July 16 combat engineering forces from Asaf battalion were the first to enter Lebanon. Their mission was to clear IEDs, open safe routes to ground forces and demolish Hizbullah infrastructures. Yahalom bomb disposal experts and IDF Caterpillar D9 bulldozers cleared most of Hizbullah's IEDs. During the war, a D9 went over a 500 kg belly charge IED but survived without taking significant damage.

During the war, combat engineers used bulldozers and explosives to destroy Hezbollah outposts, bunkers, warehouses and HQs—mainly along the border. The works intensified as the war reached near end, and indeed the borderline was cleared in time.

Combat engineers also rescued damaged tanks, often under fire.

Two combat engineers were awarded with Medal of Distinguished Service and other two awarded a recommendation of honor from the General Chief of Staff. Many other awarded with recommendation of honor from less senior commanders.

Operation Cast Lead

Combat Engineer in training

During the Gaza War (2008–2009) codenamed "Operation Cast Lead" by the IDF, combat engineering forces were the first to enter the Gaza Strip to clear IEDs, booby traps and open safe routes to armor and infantry.

Many booby traps, rigged structures and tunnels were present in the Gaza Strip as part of Hamas efforts to prepare to the Gaza War. These were often concealed in civilian structures, and were even found in schools and mosques. However, most of the Palestinian booby traps were successfully countered by the IDF Combat Engineering Corps bomb disposal experts (part of Yahalom Special Engineering Unit) which dismentaled the bombs and armored D9 bulldozers which detonated bombs and booby traps while sustaining no damage from the explosions. IDF Caterpillar D9R and unmanned "Raam HaShachar" D9N armored bulldozers which opened route in dangerous areas have taken a lot of IEDs, landmines, explosive charges and RPG hits, but no crewmen were killed. However, a Yahalom bomb disposal expert was killed after entering a house and encountering a suicide bomber. He was the only fatality of the Combat Engineering Corps during the war.

Armored IDF Caterpillar D9 bulldozers and armored Bagger E-349 excavator, parked during Operation Protective Edge.

Besides neutralizing Hamas IEDs and traps, combat engineering forces demolished Hamas infrastructure and other structures used as outposts, shooting positions, traps, cover for tunnels, HQs and warehouses. The head officer of the Combat Engineering Corps (קהנ"ר) estimated that about 600 buildings were bulldozed or exploded by his troops.

The Combat Engineering Corps' success heightened their reputation within the IDF and in the Israeli public. This was manifested in increased number of conscripts who chose the Combat Engineering Corps as their first priority in their draft preferation questionnaire ("Manila מנילה" - a form in which the conscript chooses in what unit he would like to serve, the IDF tries to fulfill his request as much as possible).[4]

Operation Protective Edge

Combat engineer looking at a Hamas infiltration tunnel exposed by the IDF during Operation Protective Edge.

During Operation Protective Edge (July–August 2014) Combat Engineers played a major role in destroying Hamas' cross-border underground infiltration tunnels. The tunnels were exposed and cleared by armored bulldozers and excavators, and then detonated by Yahalom's Samoor unit. In total, about 32 tunnels were destroyed. In addition, combat engineers participated in the battles, neutralized Hamas-planted improvised explosive devices, cleared booby-traps, opened routes for armor and infantry, and destroyed terrorist infrastructure. Six combat engineers were killed during the battles in the Gaza Strip.


References

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