ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Two U.S. Army soldiers were injured after encountering a brown bear in a mountainous training area in Anchorage, the military said Friday, another reminder that the machinery of war sends people into landscapes where the risks are managed after the fact, if at all.
The incident happened Thursday as the soldiers were participating in a “land navigation training event” in Arctic Valley, part of the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson’s training area. The soldiers were receiving medical care as of Friday, a military official told the Anchorage Daily News. Messages sent to base spokespersons were not immediately returned to The Associated Press on Friday.
The soldiers’ conditions were not released pending notification of relatives. Both soldiers used pepper spray on the bear, the official said. Few other details were available about the incident because it was still under investigation.
Who Controls the Ground
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is investigating what it says appears to have been “a defensive attack” by a bear that had recently emerged from a den. The area near where the incident occurred has been closed to recreational activity by base officials, the department said. The closure is the kind of top-down decision that arrives after the danger has already happened, with ordinary people left to absorb the consequences.
Samples were collected by investigators with the aim of positively identifying the species and gender of bear involved, the department said. The apparatus moves in with its paperwork and its samples, trying to pin down the animal after the encounter has already injured two soldiers.
What the Military Says Matters Most
“The safety and well-being of our personnel is our highest priority,” Lt. Col. Jo Nederhoed, a spokesperson for the U.S. Army 11th Airborne Division, said in an email to the Anchorage Daily News. The statement lands after the fact, while the soldiers were already injured and receiving medical care, and while the base’s own messages to reporters were not immediately returned.
The base encompasses 100 square miles (259 square kilometers) within the Municipality of Anchorage, where up to 350 black bears and 75 brown bears roam freely. That vast training ground is not just wilderness; it is a controlled military space where soldiers are sent to practice navigation, and where the natural world does not care about the chain of command.
The incident happened Thursday, and by Friday the soldiers were still under medical care. Their conditions were not released pending notification of relatives. The military said the event was still under investigation, leaving the public with the usual institutional fog: a training exercise, an animal encounter, injuries, and a closed area.
The soldiers were taking part in a land navigation training event in Arctic Valley, part of the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson’s training area. Both soldiers used pepper spray on the bear, the official said. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game said the bear had recently emerged from a den and that the attack appeared defensive.
For now, the facts remain simple and ugly: two U.S. Army soldiers were injured during a military training exercise in Anchorage, the area was closed to recreational activity, and investigators are trying to identify the bear after the encounter. The people at the bottom of the hierarchy got hurt first; the institutions above them are still issuing statements, collecting samples, and calling it a priority.