Two soldiers were seriously injured after encountering a brown bear during a training mission at a military base in Alaska, the Army said.
The unidentified service members who were with the 11th Airborne Division encountered the animal during a “land navigation training event” at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, according to a press release.
The Army did not provide many details about the encounter but said that the soldiers were equipped with bear spray, which they deployed.
When I was in high school, I spent 2 summers at a very remote Indian village on an island in Alaska. It was a great time, we could sit on our front porch and watch the whales in the inlet, we fished for salmon . The guy we rented the little shack from gave us a 12 gauge pump loaded with slugs for brown bear protection. The bears would go through the village at night looking for garbage to eat.
Many times a bear would come up on our little porch, we would be up against the back wall scared out of our minds with the shotgun, hoping the bear would leave soon.
When I was at Eielson AFB near Fairbanks, our winter survival school didn’t allow firearms and live ammo. I wonder if those soldiers were armed? Even a mag full of 9MM would have prevented this.
Seen the Glock 20 and M1917 picks mentioned several places so assume it is true, but the ammo choices claimed seem bizarre.
"Because of the special nature of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol operations, a wide range of unique equipment is required that is not normally used by the Danish armed forces.[3][15]
The issued service weapons also reflect the special arctic operational conditions and requirements. Among the equipment used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol is the M1917 Enfield bolt-action rifle chambered in .30-06 Springfield, known in Danish service as the Gevær M/53 (17), and the Glock 20 pistol chambered in 10mm Auto.[16][17][18]
The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol uses the standard .30-06 Springfield 163–168-grain (10.56–10.89 g) M2 armor-piercing military rifle round (normally intended for use against lightly armored vehicles, protective shelters, and personnel, and can be identified by its black bullet tip.[19][20]). The patrolmen are uniquely allowed to use hollow-point civilian rounds (loaded with a type of expanding bullet prohibited in warfare for Danish and many other armed forces by the Hague Convention of 1899[21]) to defend themselves against dangerous wild animals.[22] The patrolmen feel that the M2 armor-piercing military round is best against aggressive polar bears at long range, but that the hollow-point civilian rounds are better against an enraged musk ox. Typically, the patrolmen arrange their magazine so every third round is a hollow-point.[23]
The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol formerly used Pistol M/49 sidearms chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum, but they proved insufficient as a last resort defence against the polar bears encountered, and the current issue Glock 20 pistol chambered in more powerful 10mm Auto (10×25mm) was adopted.[24]"
