Shaldag Unit
Encyclopedia
Shaldag also known as Special Air-Ground Designating Team (T'zevet Simun Karka Avir - TSKA in Hebrew) and Unit 5101, is an elite Israeli Air Force
commando
unit.
, by Muki Betzer, a Sayeret Matkal
veteran, who brought several Matkal veterans with him. Initially operating as a Sayeret Matkal reserve company, it was eventually transferred to the IAF.
Shaldag's mission is to deploy undetected into combat and hostile environments to conduct special reconnaissance
, establish assault zones or airfields, while simultaneously conducting air traffic control and commando actions.
Shaldag operates from Palmachim Airbase
. Shaldag soldiers carry M16 or M4A1 assault rifles fitted with the M203 grenade launcher
. For special missions, they carry Glock
17 and 19 9mm series pistols and Mauser
SR 82/66 sniper rifles.
of 1978. One of its last missions was reconnaissance near Hasbiya. The unit crossed into enemy territory, came under fire, and a team commander lost his leg to a landmine. The company commander managed to retreat without further casualties or the loss of equipment. In 1984 Shaldag took part in Operation Moses
in Sudan
. In 1991 it took part in Operation Solomon
: On May 24-25, hundreds of Shaldag men, regular as well as reserve, under the command of Benny Gantz, secured the airlift of 14,000 Ethiopian Jews from Addis Ababa
to Israel.
During the 1982–2000 South Lebanon conflict, Shaldag took part in operations Accountability
and Grapes of Wrath
, for the latter of which it received the Chief of Staff Citation
. During the 2006 Lebanon War, Shaldag took part in Operation Sharp and Smooth
, the August 1 raid on Baalbek
. Delivered by helicopters near Baalbek at 01:00, its troops proceeded north to the Sheik Habib neighborhood in order to arrest suspected Hezbollah operatives. En route, they encountered four Hezbollah fighters and killed them. A total of 19 Hezbollah fighters were killed, with no Israeli fatalities. Shaldag was also reportedly involved in Operation Orchard
in Syria
in 2007: The unit is reported to have infiltrated an underground depot near the Syrian site suspected of being a nuclear reactor
, in order to designate the target for the incoming Israeli fighters that destroyed it.
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
unit.
History
Shaldag was founded in 1974, in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur WarYom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
, by Muki Betzer, a Sayeret Matkal
Sayeret Matkal
Sayeret Matkal is a special forces unit of the Israel Defence Forces , which is subordinated to the intelligence directorate Aman. First and foremost a field intelligence-gathering unit, conducting deep reconnaissance behind enemy lines to obtain strategic intelligence, Sayeret Matkal is also...
veteran, who brought several Matkal veterans with him. Initially operating as a Sayeret Matkal reserve company, it was eventually transferred to the IAF.
Shaldag's mission is to deploy undetected into combat and hostile environments to conduct special reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
, establish assault zones or airfields, while simultaneously conducting air traffic control and commando actions.
Shaldag operates from Palmachim Airbase
Palmachim Airbase
Palmachim Air Force Base is an Israeli military facility and spaceport located near the cities of Rishon LeZion and Yavne on the Mediterranean Sea. It is named after nearby Kibbutz Palmachim on the Mediterranean shore....
. Shaldag soldiers carry M16 or M4A1 assault rifles fitted with the M203 grenade launcher
M203 grenade launcher
The M203 is a single shot 40 mm grenade launcher designed to attach to a rifle. It uses the same rounds as the older M79 break-action grenade launcher, which utilize the High-Low Propulsion System to keep recoil forces low. Though versatile, and compatible with many rifle models, the M203 was...
. For special missions, they carry Glock
Glock
Glock Ges.m.b.H. is a weapons manufacturer headquartered in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria, named after its founder, Gaston Glock...
17 and 19 9mm series pistols and Mauser
Mauser
Mauser was a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to 1995. Mauser designs were built for the German armed forces...
SR 82/66 sniper rifles.
Known operations
Shaldag carried out several missions during Operation LitaniOperation Litani
The 1978 South Lebanon conflict was an invasion in Lebanon up to the Litani River carried out by the Israel Defense Forces in 1978. It was a military success for the Israeli Defense Forces, as PLO forces were pushed north of the river...
of 1978. One of its last missions was reconnaissance near Hasbiya. The unit crossed into enemy territory, came under fire, and a team commander lost his leg to a landmine. The company commander managed to retreat without further casualties or the loss of equipment. In 1984 Shaldag took part in Operation Moses
Operation Moses
Operation Moses refers to the covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews from Sudan during a famine in 1984...
in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. In 1991 it took part in Operation Solomon
Operation Solomon
Operation Solomon was a 1991 covert Israeli military operation to take Ethiopian Jews to Israel.In 1991, the sitting Ethiopian government of Mengistu Haile Mariam was close to being toppled with the recent military successes of Eritrean and Tigrean rebels, threatening Ethiopia with dangerous...
: On May 24-25, hundreds of Shaldag men, regular as well as reserve, under the command of Benny Gantz, secured the airlift of 14,000 Ethiopian Jews from Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
to Israel.
During the 1982–2000 South Lebanon conflict, Shaldag took part in operations Accountability
Operation Accountability
On July 25, 1993, Israeli forces launched a week-long attack against Lebanon named Operation Accountability in Israel and the Seven-Day War in Lebanon...
and Grapes of Wrath
Operation Grapes of Wrath
Operation Grapes of Wrath is the Israeli Defense Forces code-name for a sixteen-day campaign against Lebanon in 1996 in an attempt to end shelling of Northern Israel by Hezbollah. Israel conducted more than 1,100 air raids and extensive shelling...
, for the latter of which it received the Chief of Staff Citation
Israeli Military decorations
The Israeli Military decorations are the decorations awarded to soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces who exhibit extraordinary bravery and courage....
. During the 2006 Lebanon War, Shaldag took part in Operation Sharp and Smooth
Operation Sharp and Smooth
During the 2006 Lebanon War, Operation Sharp and Smooth , also known as the Baalbek operation, was an Israel Defense Forces raid on a Hezbollah-run hospital in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley...
, the August 1 raid on Baalbek
Baalbek
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...
. Delivered by helicopters near Baalbek at 01:00, its troops proceeded north to the Sheik Habib neighborhood in order to arrest suspected Hezbollah operatives. En route, they encountered four Hezbollah fighters and killed them. A total of 19 Hezbollah fighters were killed, with no Israeli fatalities. Shaldag was also reportedly involved in Operation Orchard
Operation Orchard
Operation Orchard was an Israeli airstrike on a nuclear reactor in the Deir ez-Zor region of Syria carried out just after midnight on September 6, 2007. The White House and Central Intelligence Agency later confirmed that American intelligence had also indicated the site was a nuclear facility...
in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
in 2007: The unit is reported to have infiltrated an underground depot near the Syrian site suspected of being a nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
, in order to designate the target for the incoming Israeli fighters that destroyed it.