At least six Alaska National Guardsmen were attacked by coyotes during a rotation to the Joint Readiness Training Center, or JRTC, in Louisiana in July.
Soldiers assigned to the 297th Infantry Regiment were injured when they encountered up to four coyotes while training at Fort Johnson, Louisiana, according to a base spokesperson. The soldiers likely encountered a den and were attacked by the wild dogs, suffering bite marks to their arms and head.
The soldiers were all treated for injuries and released from medical care. Fort Johnson wildlife officials shot one of the coyotes and captured another for rabies testing. The soldiers were armed with rifles but were training with blanks, which is common in the training environment.
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It’s unclear if the soldiers provoked the coyotes. Service members are routinely briefed before trained events to not interact with wildlife.
A video posted on TikTok alleged 14 soldiers were injured from a coyote attack at the training center last month. Images in the video appeared to show a soldier with a stitched-up wound on his lip, and another with a stapled wound behind his ear, as well as various injuries, including puncture wounds, scrapes and bruises.
Roughly a dozen formations, or about 40,000 soldiers, rotate through JRTC every year. Like its counterpart, the National…
