Logotipo del Ministerio de Defensa escudo UME
INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION

After the earthquake that struck Haïti on January 12, 2010, the Spanish government ordered the deployment of 37 UME soldiers to assist in search and rescue in Port-au-Prince, capital of the country. Their work allowed, among others, to rescue more than 30 corpses from the rubble. However, Haiti’s experience revealed the need to specialize these teams with the necessary materials and procedures that allow their rapid integration with other international teams.

In November 2011, after an intense period of specific preparation in accordance with the guidelines of the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), UME obtained the United Nations Classification as an International Urban Search and Rescue Team (USAR). It allowed UME to become the first military group in the world classified for this and in association with ERICAM, of the Community of Madrid, are the two only Spanish speaking members.

By 2015, USAR teams from the 4th Emergency response Battalion were deployed in Lantag after the earthquake in Nepal in April that year. The 47 soldiers deployed there, already worked as a United Nations-classified team not only in Search and Rescue, but also in the propping up of 14 houses in Chapagaun and the protection of the cultural heritage of a nearby temple.

Also in April 2016, Spain deployed a SP-USAR-UME team in response to the earthquake suffered by Ecuador. Specifically, 45 UME soldiers and 12 ERICAM specialists worked as a single team in Search and Rescue, restoration of critical infrastructures and heritage protection in the west of the country.

In 2017, the Fight Against Wildfires was the protagonist of five out of six international interventions. In late January, 56 soldiers from UME were deployed to the Biobío Region in Chile to collaborate in extinguishing the wildfires that devastated the Latin American country. During the summer, several teams moved to Portugal up to four times to assist in the efforts to extinguish the wildfires in the neighboring country. The last international intervention of 2017 took place in Mexico, where a team of 54 USAR-capable soldiers traveled to its capital, Mexico City, on September 20th to collaborate in the search and rescue efforts following the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that severely affected different areas of the country on September 19th.

In 2023, UME simultaneously collaborated in two foreign interventions:

On February 5th, a contingent of 50 soldiers departed from Torrejón Air Base to Chile in order to cooperate, once again, to fight with the wave of wildfires that were devastating the country. This time, the main objective of the deployment was to offer Chile's Government support with technical capabilities, such as analysis and advice on LCIF and reinforcement of the Command and Control structure with drones as well as satellite links.

The day after, and just a few hours after the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, another aircraft from the Spanish Air Force landed in Turkey with a team of 55 soldiers (46 soldiers of the USAR team of the II Battalion, based in Morón de la Frontera, and 9 soldiers specialized in disaster assessment and advisory roles from Madrid). During the mission, the Unit was able to detect live people and recover the remains of others who had died in İslahiye and Nurdağı, both cities located in the province of Gaziantep. However, the most significant consideration of this mission was the rescue of Leyla, Elif, and Muslim, a mother and her children, who were trapped for four days and experienced a rescue operation that lasted more than 24 hours. They were detected one day earlier through technical search using geophones, and cutting and drilling work was carried out.

 

MOROCCO2023 TURKEY chile2023 

Mexico Portugal chile 

Ecuador Nepal Haiti