Two U.S. soldiers were injured in a brown bear attack while taking part in a land navigation training exercise near Anchorage, Alaska, according to military and wildlife officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attack happened in the Arctic Valley training area at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a large military installation in Anchorage that includes remote mountain terrain used for field exercises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The soldiers were participating in a training event there when they were attacked, according to Lt. Col. Jo Nederhoed, a public affairs officer for the Army\u2019s 11th Airborne Division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Army said both soldiers were receiving medical care as of Friday morning. Officials did not release details about their conditions pending notification of next of kin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alaska Department of Fish and Game said the attack happened in a remote part of the base west of the Glenn Highway, an area with limited access. Wildlife officials said it appeared to have been a defensive attack by a brown bear that had recently emerged from its den.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fish and Game regional supervisor Cyndi Wardlow said the fact that both soldiers were carrying bear spray may have saved their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe hope both individuals have a full and quick recovery, and our thoughts are with them during this time,\u201d Wardlow said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two U.S. soldiers were injured in a brown bear attack while taking part in a land navigation training exercise near Anchorage, Alaska, according to military and wildlife officials. The attack happened in the Arctic Valley training area at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a large military installation in Anchorage that includes remote mountain terrain used for field […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":46932,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[341,451,2661,4418,151],"class_list":["post-66176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usnews","tag-alaska","tag-bear-attacks","tag-brown-bear","tag-joint-base-elmendorf-richardson-alaska","tag-united-states"],"yoast_head":"\n