French alpine hunters in Nuuk

Søren Andersen, Major General in the Arctic Command, was in charge of welcoming the French elite troop when it landed in Nuuk.

This was particularly evident in the cityscape when soldiers from many NATO countries arrived in Nuuk last week to participate in the large-scale Arctic Endurance exercise. In particular, a group of French elite soldiers from the Chasseurs Alpins, the Alpine Hunters, caught the eye with their giant berets, which are a very special characteristic of the Alpine Hunters.

The official name for the hat is le béret des Chasseurs Alpins, which is the hats' answer to a Swiss Army knife that can be used for many purposes. The beret is approximately 35 cm in diameter and can be used, in a narrow sense, as a foot warmer when soldiers spend the night outdoors in snow and frost.

The Chasseurs Alpins are – like the Danish Jaeger Corps and the Sirius sled patrol – a special forces unit. They are attached to the army and trained to carry out operations in desert, mountain and urban terrain and support search and rescue operations in the mountains.