Clear, Rescue, Regroup Cycle
Secure one position, evacuate people, reset, then advance
- Difficulty
- Expert
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 88%
The Clear, Rescue, Regroup Cycle turns a chaotic advance into a sequence of controlled stages. The team first maintains all-direction awareness and resolves the immediate exposed threat, then secures a defensible position. From there, it identifies protected people, evacuates them through an armored or otherwise safe route, and uses the secured position as a reset point. Team members reload, drink water, check for injuries, and confirm readiness before selecting the next position. The mechanism prevents continuous forward motion from degrading awareness, ammunition, or coordination. It also makes civilian protection a constraint on tactics rather than an afterthought. Gelman described his team repeating this house by house during the October 7 response, with commanders preparing the next move while others completed the current one.
Origin
Yadin Gelman described the cycle his team used while clearing houses and rescuing families during the October 7 attack on Kibbutz Be'eri.
Core principles
- 01Maintain awareness in every direction
- 02Remove exposed threats before pausing
- 03Protect civilians while securing each position
- 04Use safe positions to restore team readiness
- 05Advance in bounded stages rather than one uncontrolled push
How to run it
- 1
Establish all-direction coverage
Assign attention to every plausible threat direction before moving. Treat doors, windows, and rear approaches as potential weak points.
Pro tip Make coverage assignments explicit so the team does not assume someone else is watching a direction.
Watch out A single uncovered direction can compromise the entire team.
- 2
Resolve the exposed threat
End the immediate engagement as quickly as the constraints safely allow. Move toward a defensible position instead of remaining exposed.
Watch out Do not use tactics that endanger hostages or civilians inside the position.
- 3
Secure the position
Clear the position and confirm that it can function as temporary cover. Keep the team coordinated while protection is established.
Pro tip Choose a position that supports both evacuation and the next advance.
- 4
Extract protected people
Locate civilians or other protected people, move them out of immediate danger, and transfer them to a safer evacuation route.
Pro tip Separate the clearing task from the evacuation route so one does not obstruct the other.
Watch out Never assume a position is empty simply because no one responds.
- 5
Reset team readiness
Use the secured position to reload, hydrate, assess injuries, and confirm that every member can continue. Restore capacity before taking on the next exposure.
Pro tip Use the same short readiness check at every reset point.
Watch out Skipping the reset compounds fatigue, ammunition shortages, and unnoticed injuries.
- 6
Prepare and advance
Identify the next bounded objective while the current task is finishing. Advance only when the team and route are ready, then repeat the cycle.
Pro tip Have leaders prepare the next move in parallel while the current position is being completed.
In the wild
Gelman's team fought toward a house, cleared the threat, rescued the family from its safe room, and placed them in an armored vehicle. Inside the secured house, the team reloaded, drank water, checked that nobody was hurt, and then moved to the next house while commanders prepared the next objective.
→ The team converted a continuous 360-degree fight into repeated rescue-and-reset stages.
A trained urban search-and-rescue team could adapt the cycle by stabilizing one damaged room, extracting occupants, regrouping at a safe point, checking equipment and injuries, and then advancing to the next room. The threats differ, but the bounded advance and readiness reset remain the same.
→ The team preserves capacity while progressing through a hazardous structure.
Common mistakes
Advancing without full coverage
Focusing only on the objective ahead leaves doors, windows, or rear approaches unprotected. Establish all-direction coverage before moving.
Treating rescue as an afterthought
Using unrestricted tactics around hostages or civilians defeats the mission. Their presence must constrain every engagement choice.
Skipping the reset
Moving immediately to the next objective lets fatigue, low ammunition, dehydration, and injuries accumulate. Reset readiness at every secured position.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for trained crisis-response teams moving through successive zones where threats and vulnerable people may coexist.
Not ideal for
It is not appropriate for untrained civilians, ordinary workplace disagreements, or situations where withdrawal is safer than advance.
From the transcript
“we're fighting at 360 Dees at all time that's what we understood that's what we realized pretty fast and you see a window there's a…”
“you do that you get the family out of the house you bring an armored car you get the family in the armored car and…”
“our commanders in back of us are are already preparing the next thing so you have no there is no second they're preparing all right…”
From the episode
Episode 313: Unveiling the Truth: IDF Soldier Recounts Straightforward Events of October 7th
Unveiling the Truth