In June, the "Gebirgsjaeger" Division of the German Army received 10 young mules for military training in the most demanding alpine  environments. 

The mules from Spain and France are a crossing from a donkey and a female horse. With their unique abilities, they provide unsurpassed benefits over motorized equipment not only for the German army's mountain infantry fighting in Balkan, Afghanistan etc., but the military enemy and mountain farmers around the world.

Mules can carry up to 180kg load in elevations exceeding 6.000m - noiseless on steep, narrow, slippery mountain paths, in all wheathers, requiring no fuel, oil or maintainance other than pellet food or grass around  - and a trustworthy "gebirgsjaeger" trained on leading mules. Today, the "Operation & Training Unit 230" at Bad Reichenhall of Bavaria is the only remaining German military unit specialized on training horses for demanding military tasks - anytime, anywhere .

A video on "Mules serving in the German Army Gebirgsjaeger Unit": www.bundeswehr.de/fileserving/PortalFiles/C1256EF4002AED30/N268RMM4303MMISDE/6F3BZN678INFODE.asx

The Gebirgsjaeger of the German Army: www.deutschesheer.de/portal/a/10div/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_Qjz...