Inside Greenland’s elite ‘dog sled army’ who SHOOT polar bears & patrol in -55C in landscape where others dare not tread

Apart from just one visit to ­civilisation allowed during a 26-month tour of duty, there is no opportunity to see family or friends.

Instead, a close and respectful bond develops between man and dog, who become a cohesive unit, each depending on the other for survival.

The huskies have developed a hissing growl which they use to warn of an approaching polar bear.

It gives the soldiers time to reach for their 10mm Glock pistols or bolt-action M53 rifles.

The sled — pulled by 11 to 15 Greenland huskies — traverse ocean pack ice and rugged snow for an average of 19 miles a day.

At night, the men retire to a hi-tech tent or a collection of huts dotted along the patrol route.

Their monotonous diet of canned foods is bereft of fresh fruit or vegetables for their entire time on patrol.

And although they change their socks weekly, they go for as long as two months without a shower or full change of clothes.

Their hardy huskies sleep outside, braving the worst of the Arctic weather.

The Navy unit’s selection and training procedures are some of the toughest for any nation’s special forces and have been described as “exceptional”.

Potential recruits undergo vigorous trials for endurance and strength as well as psychological testing to ensure they can withstand the months of solitude.

For the few who make it through, at least eight months of rigorous instruction follows, with hunting techniques, sewing and veterinary skills among the disciplines taught.

Proud history

Patrolman Jesper Olsen described how, as part of his final training, he had to simulate a sled accident by leaping into icy water.

Then he tested his survival skills by living for five days with only a small bag of emergency supplies.

Hunting Arctic hare and musk ox to feed himself, he slept in a snow cave dug with his mess tin.

The unit has a proud history.

First known as the North-East Greenland Sledge Patrol, it was formed in summer 1941 with much of mainland Europe under Nazi control.

Its mission was to collect meteorological data to aid military planning in Europe.

The Germans also acknowledged Greenland’s potential and secretly built four weather stations on its rugged coast to help their U-boat campaign.

Peter Harmsen, author of Fury And Ice: Greenland, The United States And Germany In World War II, said: “Germans called Greenland the ‘weather kitchen’, the place where weather was made, to be served the following day in Europe.”

They’re transportation and they’re your warning system while you’re sleeping

Retired US Coast Guard Captain Bob Desh

Before Sirius, finding the monitoring stations amid the snowy wastes was next to impossible.

US Coast Guard ships struggled to navigate through the pack ice, while spotter aircraft’s visibility was hampered by snow storms and winter’s constant darkness.

So US Coast Guard Commander Edward “Iceberg” Smith teamed up with Greenland’s Governor Eske Brun to create the husky patrols.

A force of ten Danes, four Greenlandic Inuits and one Norwegian was assembled to fight what became known as the “weather wars”.

The Inuit presence was vital, with US Coast Guard HQ writing: “In that large expanse of snow and ice, where men can scarcely be recognized at a little distance, only the natives covering the territory on sleds and well- acquainted with the regular inhabitants could detect a stranger.”

Then sled teams from the hardy local breed of Greenland husky were put together.

Known for their stamina and strength plus a keen sense of smell to detect dangerous animals and enemy soldiers alike, the dogs were acclimatised to the unforgiving Arctic environment.

Retired US Coast Guard Captain Bob Desh said: “They’re elite sensor packages with a tail.

“They’re transportation and they’re your warning system while you’re sleeping.”

The unit was split into three groups and began patrolling along Greenland’s north east coast.

At night they slept in tents or tiny shacks called “hunting stations” which were stocked with paraffin, coal and dog food.

Bob added: “They were the nastiest, crudest shacks that you could possibly think of, but it was a place to sleep.”

You have to be acquainted with that harsh environment and that knowledge is not something you just can study in Alaska or with high tech or whatever

Former Danish rear-admiral Jorgensen

Armed with rifles, the soldiers shot musk ox, polar bear and Arctic fox as food for themselves and their dogs. Soon the covert unit made their mark.

In autumn 1941 a patrol saw  a suspicious Norwegian trawler in a remote fjord.

Detained by Allied forces, German soldiers and kit were found on board.

In 1943 patrolmen Marius Jensen, Mikael Kunak and William Arke discovered a small hut with smoke billowing from its chimney on Sabine Island.

Seeing two men run from the hut, they decided to set up camp in a nearby hunting shack.

Later alerted by their howling dogs, they were confronted by two heavily armed German units.

The sled drivers were forced to flee, leaving behind their dogs and equipment, before embarking on a two-day, 100-mile trek back to camp.

Later, Nazi soldiers opened fire on Danish patrolman Eli Knudsen and his sled dogs. Killed in the melee, he was the unit’s first casualty.

After the war the sled unit was disbanded, but in 1950, as the Cold War turned glacial and concerns grew over Soviet designs on the Arctic, it was reconstituted.

It was renamed the Resolute Dog Sled Patrol, before becoming the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol.

A world away from high-tech modern warfare of AI-controlled drones and satellites, Sirius’s boots on the ground deter Chinese and Russian incursions.

And if Trump is serious about sending US forces to seize Greenland, these Dogs of War will be waiting for them.

Former Danish rear-admiral Jorgensen told The Sun: “You have to be acquainted with that harsh environment and that knowledge is not something you just can study in Alaska or with high tech or whatever.

“Sirius have battle-proven skills.”