Soldiers and Sled Dogs: A History of Military Dog Mushing

By way of original army documents, interviews with the last living dog drivers, and never before published photographs, Dean's book tells a story that begins in Alaska, traverses two world wars and the Cold War era, and ends in the present-day Danish sledge patrol in Greenland. Here are the sled dogs drafted from Alaska and trained by French troops for use in the Vosges Mountains; improvised alpine sled dogs used by the Italians in the Great War; those deployed by the German SS in World War II; and others training in Montana's Camp Rimini, Colorado's Camp Hale, and Nebraska's Fort Robinson. From the nitty-gritty of the making of a canine division to the high drama of dogs conducting daring rescues and parachuting to their destinations, this book richly supplies a missing chapter in military history and in the story of man's best friend at war.

As an arctic expert in Alaska, Charles L. Dean led the Army High Altitude Mountain Rescue Team and taught military skiing and mountaineering at the Northern Warfare Training Center. He is a former army officer who served as a rifle platoon leader in Vietnam and as a jumpmaster with the 82nd Airborne Division. He is now a retired fire captain from the Colorado Springs Fire Department.