Israel Forward Rescue Unit completes training exercise

The Israel Central Command’s Forward Rescue Unit, comprising reservist soldiers, has successfully completed a week-long training exercise, aimed to train for heavy and light vehicles extraction caught under fire in battle.

During the exercise, personnel conducted extraction of tanks, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs).

The drill commander Major Itai Avisha said that the drill is conducted once a year while the recent exercise focused especially the operational aspect, including weapons training and team drills.

Avisha said, "The unit knows how to extract every kind of vehicle, even in the field of battle in the most complicated situations, from the tank that’s had a charge activated against it to a tank that’s broken down in the mud with soldiers inside."

"Ultimately the rescue workers operate in the field like tank soldiers in every way, thus they need to know how to perform moving fire drills, both on foot and in vehicles, as part of their rescue and navigation work," Avisha added.

The unit’s recue company commander Chief Warrant Officer (res.) Richard Avizeret said, "In Defensive Shield, the threat was bullets, today it’s missiles and anti-tank rockets, and it is these new threats that we need to deal with, therefore we will not rest on our laurels but aspire to learn more at all times."

"Gradually we learned how to manage such situations, and we learned the necessary lessons in order to develop the techniques that provided protection to the rescuers," Avizeret added.