Bahad 16 ( he, בה"ד 16; lit: Training base 16) is a training base (''

bahad Bahad ( he, בה"ד, short for ''Bsis Hadrakha'' ( he, בסיס הדרכה), ''lit.'' Training base) is a military training base in the Israel Defense Forces. Each Bahad deals with a certain field, such as law enforcement or logistics. Generally, ...

'') belonging to the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

(IDF) under the command of the

Home Front Command The Home Front Command ( he, פיקוד העורף, ''Pikud HaOref'') is an Israel Defense Forces regional Command (military formation), command, created in February 1992 in response to the lessons of the Gulf War,Search and Rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

(SAR) unit. Because it is the only SAR training base, ''Bahad 16'' is synonymous with the SAR unit itself. Since 2021 it is located at the ,

Ramla Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations. The city was f ...

, which is also the headquarters of the Home Front Command. Previously it was located within the disestablished

Tzrifin Tzrifin ( he, צְרִיפִין) is an area in Gush Dan (Dan Region) in central Israel, located on the eastern side of Rishon LeZion and including parts of Be'er Ya'akov. The area proper is defined as an 'area without jurisdiction' between the two ...

base. This unit should not be confused with

Unit 669 Airborne Combat Rescue And Evacuation Unit 669 ( he, יחידת החילוץ והפינוי הקרבי בהיטס 669,''Yechidat HaHilu'tz VeHaPinu'i HaKravi Behetes 669'') is the Israel Defense Forces heliborne Combat Search and Rescue extracti ...

. Bahad 16 is a domestic search and rescue unit, primarily operating in times of natural disasters, while Unit 669 is the Israeli Air Force's Tactical Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) unit that operates behind enemy lines.

History

IDF Home Front Command Search and Rescue unit was a re-organization of HaGaHa, the Israeli civil defense force. It was created in February 1992 following the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, which, as the most threatening war to Israel's homeland since the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

, led to a perceived need for more security beyond the border.

Purpose

The SAR unit serves as a ready unit for

natural disasters A natural disaster is "the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community". A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some econo ...

(such as

earthquakes An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

and

floods A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

), for civil disasters (such as the

Versailles wedding hall disaster At 22:43 on May 24, 2001, a large portion of the third floor of the Versailles Wedding Hall collapsed in Talpiot, Jerusalem, Israel. Twenty-three people fell to their deaths through two stories, while another 380 were injured to varying degrees. ...

), and for response to deliberate military or para-military attacks (such as with Katyusha, Grad or

Scud A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second World, Second and Third World, Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporti ...

rockets or with IEDs). During

Operation Defensive Shield Operation "Defensive Shield" ( he, מִבְצָע חוֹמַת מָגֵן, ''Mivtza Homat Magen'', literally "Operation Shield Wall") was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002 during the Second Intifada ...

in 2002, four-man teams from the unit were attached to infantry units in

Jenin Jenin (; ar, ') is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine and is a major center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, Jenin had a population of app ...

and

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...

. There, teams facilitated troop movement by breaking openings in walls between houses (known as

mouse-holing Mouse-holing is a tactic used in urban warfare in which soldiers create access to adjoining rooms or buildings by blasting or tunneling through a wall. The tactic is used to avoid open streets since advancing infantry, caught in enfilade, are ea ...

/ Rhizome Manoeuvre).

Operations

Since its formation, the unit has operated both in Israel and abroad, including in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. *Nepal (2015) :Following deadly earthquakes, Israel operated the largest humanitarian presence in Nepal, with over 250 doctors and rescue personnel. *

Port-au-Prince, Haiti Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

(2010) :Following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake two teams were sent from the unit as part of a large Israeli delegation. * Beit Yehoshua, Israel (2006) :Train Wreck * Tel Aviv, Israel (2006) :Collapsed building due to a gas explosion * Nairobi, Kenya (2006) :Following the collapse of a five-story building in Nairobi, Kenya, on January 23, 2006, Bahad 16 & Yachtza forces arrived 23 hours after the disaster. At that stage, two people were still buried under the building and special techniques (

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

ing and

scalping Scalping is the act of cutting or tearing a part of the human scalp, with hair attached, from the head, and generally occurred in warfare with the scalp being a trophy. Scalp-taking is considered part of the broader cultural practice of the tak ...

) were required to secure their evacuation. The two people were evacuated and both recovered after a short stay in hospital.DISASTER journal article
* Jaffa, Israel (2005) :A crane collapsed on a building * Revidim, Israel (2005) :Train Wreck * Jerusalem (2001) :Following the collapse of the Versailles wedding hall, Bahad 16 & Yachtza forces arrived within an hour of the disaster. During the rescue operation 23 bodies were excavated and 3 people were removed alive. * Gölcük, Turkey (1999) :After the İzmit earthquake, Israeli forces were sent to assist with rescue efforts at the Gölcük Naval base.

References

{{reflist Military units and formations of Israel