Meet the Israeli Air Force’s Elite Rescue Unit 669
In the first week of fighting, Unit 669 rescued about 200 wounded in 45 rescue operations
Dan Arkin
| 15/10/2023
At the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, an Air Force Yas’ur [transport] helicopter carrying the fighters of Rescue Unit 669 was called to the Zikim sector, where terrorists were located. Unit 669 rescued about 200 wounded in 45 rescue operations in the first week of fighting.
Storm pilot Captain Y. said, "We arrived quickly, joined the force, evacuated under fire." Another rescue was recorded over the connection, "Evacuation helicopter entering. Identifiers on the right are injured people on stretchers. Going up to you. I'm landing. You will reach the helicopter. Two injured, opened a door, we closed it, took off to the north. Takes off."
This is how the soldiers of 669 saved the lives of wounded civilians at the beginning of the war in Israel; they rescued, provided medical treatment, and brought them quickly to the hospital. The official name of the 669th is the "669th Special Rescue Tactical Unit" due to its subordination to the 7th Wing, Special Air Forces, and the commando units of the Air Force.
The profession of air evacuation is very well established. The first evacuation in Israel occurred in 1917 when a British soldier was evacuated in a light plane after being wounded in an ambush. Today looks a little different; the unit operates in close cooperation with the Yas’ur helicopter squadrons of the Air Force, and throughout its existence (since 1974 and with lessons from the Yom Kippur War), fighters have carried out hundreds of rescues, both military and civilian.
669 is the only unit in the IDF that operates permanently in the middle of the air-sea-land triangle and is a master of those regions; it’s the reason the unit's symbol is a green-eyed cat, the cat being an animal that "always falls on its feet." Unit 669 represents the verse, "In trouble you called, and you saved."
The unit consists of six sections: (1) a fighting section, male and female; (2) a medical party with doctors and paramedics (who must be highly qualified and able to treat seriously injured people in extreme situations); (3) a preparation and administration branch; (4) a combat rescue school, (5) a branch dedicated to location missing persons; and (6) the search team with patrols and field personnel.
669 fighter training lasts eighteen months. The work program is time-consuming and comprehensive. It includes a course in military equipment, LOTAR [anti-terrorism], parachuting and diving, survival, captivity training, helicopter training, and the unit's mission-rescue training in all terrain and weather conditions.
The rescue unit is on high alert all year round, even when no war exists. It can be called to rescue a fighter injured in a field exercise, a civilian stuck in a deep wadi valley, and a pilot who abandoned his plane.
In the unit's equipment warehouse, the large backpacks of the medical staff are always ready and filled with medical equipment, devices, medicines, and dressings. The backpack is ready for immediate loading to the helicopter on the way to the rescue. On the wall hang diving suits, diving equipment, buoys, and pairs of fins, in case of rescue at sea.
In the first week of fighting, Unit 669 rescued about 200 wounded in 45 rescue operations
At the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, an Air Force Yas’ur [transport] helicopter carrying the fighters of Rescue Unit 669 was called to the Zikim sector, where terrorists were located. Unit 669 rescued about 200 wounded in 45 rescue operations in the first week of fighting.
Storm pilot Captain Y. said, "We arrived quickly, joined the force, evacuated under fire." Another rescue was recorded over the connection, "Evacuation helicopter entering. Identifiers on the right are injured people on stretchers. Going up to you. I'm landing. You will reach the helicopter. Two injured, opened a door, we closed it, took off to the north. Takes off."
This is how the soldiers of 669 saved the lives of wounded civilians at the beginning of the war in Israel; they rescued, provided medical treatment, and brought them quickly to the hospital. The official name of the 669th is the "669th Special Rescue Tactical Unit" due to its subordination to the 7th Wing, Special Air Forces, and the commando units of the Air Force.
The profession of air evacuation is very well established. The first evacuation in Israel occurred in 1917 when a British soldier was evacuated in a light plane after being wounded in an ambush. Today looks a little different; the unit operates in close cooperation with the Yas’ur helicopter squadrons of the Air Force, and throughout its existence (since 1974 and with lessons from the Yom Kippur War), fighters have carried out hundreds of rescues, both military and civilian.
669 is the only unit in the IDF that operates permanently in the middle of the air-sea-land triangle and is a master of those regions; it’s the reason the unit's symbol is a green-eyed cat, the cat being an animal that "always falls on its feet." Unit 669 represents the verse, "In trouble you called, and you saved."
The unit consists of six sections: (1) a fighting section, male and female; (2) a medical party with doctors and paramedics (who must be highly qualified and able to treat seriously injured people in extreme situations); (3) a preparation and administration branch; (4) a combat rescue school, (5) a branch dedicated to location missing persons; and (6) the search team with patrols and field personnel.
669 fighter training lasts eighteen months. The work program is time-consuming and comprehensive. It includes a course in military equipment, LOTAR [anti-terrorism], parachuting and diving, survival, captivity training, helicopter training, and the unit's mission-rescue training in all terrain and weather conditions.
The rescue unit is on high alert all year round, even when no war exists. It can be called to rescue a fighter injured in a field exercise, a civilian stuck in a deep wadi valley, and a pilot who abandoned his plane.
In the unit's equipment warehouse, the large backpacks of the medical staff are always ready and filled with medical equipment, devices, medicines, and dressings. The backpack is ready for immediate loading to the helicopter on the way to the rescue. On the wall hang diving suits, diving equipment, buoys, and pairs of fins, in case of rescue at sea.
