According to the United States Army Garrison, Bavaria's Wildlife Health Handbook, "Wild boars ... with a size of 1.2-1.7 m (3.9-5.6 ft) and a weight of up to 200 kg (441 lb), they are one of the heaviest animals in the Grafenwoehr Training Area."

Grafenwoehr Training Area is the primary location where the military trains in Germany. I certainly spent many, many weeks on training exercises there.

I was in an artillery unit from 1984 - 1987 and, among other things, drove the M109A2 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzer as part of a 6-soldier cannon crew.

Our unit would typically deploy our six howitzers in a straight line or lazy-W formation several hundred yards across in a cleared area where we could safely fire the weapons towards the impact area.

The support equipment, such as tents, was set up under the forest canopy.

The German forest canopy is very dense, and very little light gets through from the sun's rays. No moonlight penetrates the canopy.

Soldiers train as they fight, and guard duty is no exception. The junior soldiers rotated through a guard-duty schedule which started at dusk and continued until morning.

We'd been told about the presence of the wild boars and how dangerous they could be. Couple that information with zero visibility, and you have the makings of a very jittery, young soldier.

I was making the rounds during my scheduled guard-duty period, and I heard the characteristic snuffle of a nearby wild boar.

I couldn't see a thing, and it sounded like the boar was getting closer, so without thinking, I turned and ran the opposite way from the sounds.

I must have tripped on every guy wire and stake from the tents we had set up.

I survived with several bruises to both body and pride but never heard another boar after that.