English pop singer Shane Fenton, later known as Alvin Stardust, autographing a woman's leg in his dressing room. (Photo by John Pratt/Keystone Features/Getty Images). September 1962

Throughout the course of the long war in Afghanistan, Coalition troops have relied on thousands of military working dogs to help keep them safe, and make their jobs easier. The dogs are trained to detect explosives, to find illegal drugs, to search for missing comrades, or target enemy combatants. Not only are they active on the front lines, but behind the lines they serve as therapy dogs, service dogs, and loyal companions. They also share the same risks as the ground troops, suffering injuries and sometimes death on the battlefields. Gathered here are images of these dogs and their handlers in Afghanistan and back home, from over the past several years, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.

“The Net thrower”. The fisherman are conducting activities on Situgunung Lake. Photo location: Situgunung lake, Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia. (Photo and caption by Dody Kusuma/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Actress Bella Thorne attends the Teen Choice Awards 2015 at the USC Galen Center on August 16, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)

An Indian toddler plays amid marigold flowers at a wasted flowers dumping site, besides a flower market in Mumbai, India, 28 September 2016. Marigold flowers are used in many religious ceremonies in the temples in India. Strung together they make colourful garlands and are used as an offering in temples and to decorate them. (Photo by Divyakant Solanki/EPA)

Girls accompany grooms as they sit separate from the brides during a mass wedding for 150 couples in Beit Lahiya town in the northern Gaza Strip July 20, 2015. The wedding was funded by al-Basheer Society for Relief and Development. (Photo by Suhaib Salem/Reuters)

A participant of the “Mrs Universe 2015” contest from Caribbean Coast, Mayra Joli poses for a photo with a woman during their visit in central botanical garden in Minsk, Belarus, August 25, 2015. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

Pedestrians have a snowball fight in Times Square following a mandatory shutdown of the streets at 11 p.m. on January 26, 2015 in New York City. New York, and much of the Northeast, is bracing for a major winter storm which is expected to bring blizzard conditions and 10 to 30 inches of snow to the area. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/AFP Photo)