A homecoming, Alaska style

By Master Sgt. Eric Reinhardt/U.S. Army Alaska PAOMarch 10, 2011

A homecoming, Alaska style
1 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
A homecoming, Alaska style
2 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – ANCHORAGE -- Participants brave the cold in a variety of attire, or lack thereof, during the city's "Running of the Reindeer" March 5. ACU-clad Soldiers from the 23rd Engineer Company (Sapper) also took part in the run, an arctic variant of Pamplona,... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
A homecoming, Alaska style
3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – ANCHORAGE -- The City of Anchorage welcomes home Soldiers of the 23rd Engineer Company (Sapper) from their yearlong deployment in Afghanistan. The Sappers marched through downtown before participating in the "Running of the Reindeer" March 5 during t... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
A homecoming, Alaska style
4 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – ANCHORAGE - Soldiers of the 23rd Engineer Company (Sapper) experience "Running with the Reindeer" March 5 during the Fur Rendezvous festival. The run, featuring domesticated caribou, is an annual highlight of the city's "Fur Rondy", as the three-day ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
A homecoming, Alaska style
5 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – ANCHORAGE -- A straggler races to catch up with U.S. Army Alaska Soldiers during the Running of the Reindeer here March 5. Sappers from the 23rd Engineer Company took part in the run, along with local revelers and a herd of domesticated caribou. The ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

ANCHORAGE -- Soldiers from the 23rd Engineer Company (Sapper), 6th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, just back from Afghanistan, got an Alaskan welcome home March 5 during the city's three-day Fur Rendezvous festival.

The troops, who returned from a yearlong deployment Feb. 25, took part in the Running of the Reindeer. The run is an annual highlight of the Fur Rondy, as the festival is more commonly known here.

The event also served as a backdrop for 3rd MEB Commander Col. Barry K. Williams to enlist 20 new Soldiers into the Army and re-enlist 10 U.S. Army Alaska Soldiers from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

The annual winter festival started here in 1935 to coincide with the time miners and trappers came to town with their winter's yield.

Called the "largest winter festival in North America", it now attracts visitors from around the world to participate in activities such as snow sculpting, sled dog racing, a carnival, a parade, the Miners and Trappers Ball, car racing and the Running of the Reindeer, an arctic variant of Pamplona, Spain's Running of the Bulls, with domesticated caribou in place of bovines.

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