Answering the Call

Founder of California-based IGY6 Defense Serving in Israel during War with Hamas.

For those of us who served in the military, the term “I got your 6” is a constant to our way of life. It is not just a catchy phrase or bumper sticker – it is our calling. We pride ourselves on the “anytime, anywhere” response we have for one another in times of need. Whether it’s going out for a night on the town with a “battle buddy,” or just being there when the demons come calling and they might need someone to talk to, our bond and spirit of camaraderie runs deep.

Enter Jake Bittan, a 29-year-old native-born Californian. Jake’s family originally hails from New York but moved to the Malibu area for different opportunities. Jake was a star athlete and even had a scholarship to college for baseball, but he decided to answer a higher calling within himself. Jake gave up sports for the military. But not the one you would expect. You see, Jake joined the Israel Defense Forces due to his Jewish heritage. He ended up becoming a dual citizen and learned the Hebrew language fluently. Jake entered the IDF on the “Lone Soldier” program. As defined by the Lone Soldier Center, “A lone soldier is a soldier in the IDF with no family in Israel to support him or her: a new immigrant, a volunteer from abroad, an orphan or an individual from a broken home within Israel.”

Jake made it through special forces selection in 2017. He lived with other lone soldiers who stayed with host families during weekends while off base. During service training, Jake was injured from a structure fall in which he fell two stories, breaking his leg and subsequently having major surgery. Jake made a full recovery in under three months and quickly returned to his active-duty unit that was conducting combat operations on the Gaza border during a large flare-up with Hamas. After fulfilling his active-duty requirements, Jake left Israel in 2020 and returned to California. However, Jake is still on reserve duty, which is mandatory by contract. He is still required to serve one to two months a year on full duty. He flies back to Israel every year since leaving to fulfill his duty.

WHEN JAKE RETURNED home, he did not know exactly what he could do or where he could fit in, a sentiment many combat veterans feel upon returning from living such a dangerous and chaotic life in the military. Jake fell into the executive protection world through a friend of his, Ronen Shlomo. Ronen took Jake under his wing and taught him how he could apply his military experience to the civilian world. During his first year in executive protection, Jake was dealing with a neighbor who had a friend who was having an issue. His neighbor told him that his friends were being intimidated by the cartel and mafia, so naturally Jake took the job and was on that gig for a year. He had to deal with individuals trying to smuggle firearms past them on a daily basis – people who would draw their weapons to intimidate him – and engaged these individuals almost every night, very close to where he lived. Some people he worked with quit; they found it too stressful and dangerous, as people were threatening to shoot up these clients.

After that was resolved, Jake became a lead protector six days a week. He specialized in celebrity protection, had private clients and taught family protection. All this prompted Jake to start a tactical training business teaching firearms classes as well as classes that are primarily medical-heavy due to his combat experiences. But that’s not all IGY6 Defense has to offer. On one reserve deployment before the Israel-Hamas war began in fall 2023, Jake realized that the gear they use is not the most functional. He had a vision to bring great gear to the market that is lighter and more sustainable. He started designing things he thought would work based on his vast combat experience, and his wife completely supported and assisted in his dream and even did the sewing! His gear, to this day, has saved lives in Israel. His products are battle tested, and 10 percent of his sales goes to Project Refit, a nonprofit that helps veterans and first responders struggling with PTSD and helps give them another chance to rebuild their lives.

IN OCTOBER 2023, Jake was on his way back to California after spending the weekend playing in a baseball
tournament in Arizona, when he started getting messages from his reserve team in Israel. They sent him some footage
and he replied, “Is this a new movie?” Nothing had been released in the news yet, but Jake found out one of his officers
had been killed. The officer had driven to his base to gear up from his home, then went to an attack site to protect and save the lives of as many Israelis as he could and with no support whatsoever. He was ambushed and then executed. According to Jake, his officer was “the most caring guy in the world; an amazing person that gave people his undivided attention and time and extra training to ensure they knew what they were doing.”

When Jake heard what had happened, he told his pregnant wife he had to leave. Jake recalled his experiences with Hamas and Israel’s previous operations with Hamas. This was bigger than anything Israel had dealt with before. Jake told his wife he loved her and promised he would be back. Jake flew out on October 8, on the first flight he could take. He talked about singing the “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem, with other Israeli citizens on the plane. One of his teammates picked him up and he went directly to base to gear up and then do body recoveries. Jake helped with getting families out of the area, but dead bodies were everywhere.
Cars were on fire and riddled with bullet holes like in a Mad Max movie. After a few days, Jake went to the base and “headed up north” to secure the Lebanon border. He recalled there was no armor, no weapons – it was like a madhouse. There were multiple bases with lines of people trying to get in. Jake switched to a different unit in order to get back to fighting against Hamas and went south to start the initial phase of clearing out areas in Gaza and setting up firing positions for tanks. When the air strikes started, Jake’s new team was tasked with going to the West Bank, operating in some of its most dangerous areas and razing hundreds of Hamas locations. Jake was exposed to air strikes, improvised explosive devices, machinegun fire and other dangers.

AFTER COMING BACK to the US for the birth of his daughter, Jake returned to Israel for another two months. He returned to operations in the West Bank, where he was tasked to take out Hamas. Jake was in combat every single day during the operation in his area of the West Bank, and he was awarded the equivalent to a Bronze Star with Valor for his actions during a specific incident. In it, 40 to 50 Israelis were ambushed on the road. Jake was in a Prius-type vehicle on his way back to base after taking care of some things with his two teammates, when he got a call over the radio about a “weird guy parked on the side of the road on the guardrail.” Jake remembered driving past just such a person and turned around to check out the vehicle. He started hearing gunfire, which ended up being an active shooter terrorist attack. People were backing into each other on the road and crashing into cars. Some people were running through the streets screaming. Jake told his teammate to stop the vehicle since they were not armored and that they would move in on foot.

He saw the shooter, who had stopped firing his weapon for a brief moment, and Jake sprinted to the guy’s position. Jake and his two teammates started taking incoming machinegun fire from about 80 yards out and immediately started returning fire while running toward the threat. Jake dumped an entire magazine full of ammunition while receiving shots from the fully automatic weapon the terrorist had. Jake told his guys to get down, went prone, reloaded and returned fire, wounding and stopping the terrorist. They found a detonator on the terrorist’s body and a 200-pound bomb in his vehicle. There were also cameras in the vehicle with a 360-degree radius livestreaming to the terrorist’s phone he had in his hand. Jake and his team were lucky that day because they stopped the terrorist 5 feet outside of the range of the remote to detonate the car bomb.

Due to Jake’s and his team’s actions, only one innocent female was injured by the terrorist that day. It took two minutes and 35 seconds for the whole ordeal to end. Jake’s only thought, besides saving innocent people and stopping the terrorists, was that he wanted to show his kids that their dad was a good person and was there to make a difference. Well, Jake, from one combat veteran to another, let me tell you, brother, you are a great person. For more information on Jake Bittan, his training and his products, please visit igy6defense.com.★

Editor’s note: Jason Brooks is a combat medically retired marine, force recon hand-to-hand instructor, counterterrorism instructor trainer, recognized national law enforcement trainer, active personal protection specialist and co-owner of Assault Counter Tactics. Visit assaultcountertactics.com for more.