During a jungle survival program February 20, 2013 taught by Royal Thai Special Forces in Sannapit, Thailand, U.S. Marines learned to catch cobras and drink their fresh blood, not to mention eat forest insects and pull the heads off of chicken. The training was part of Operation Cobra Gold 13, the 32nd edition of international military exercises hosted by the Thai. According to a U.S. Marines press release, Cobra Gold is the largest exercise of its kind in Asia and incorporates troops from five other nations in addition to the U.S. and Thailand. The Daily Mail reports that the Marines were invited to experience the local custom of drinking cobra blood after being taught to catch and kill cobras in the wild. As CNN notes, Cobra blood is believed to be a panacea and aphrodiasic in parts of Southeast Asia. In Jakarta, vendors can earn over $100 a night selling shots of cobra blood mixed with liquor. (Photo by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP Photo)

David Bowie, 1974. David Bowie's quirky character and style was perfectly encapsulated in this shot by Terry O'Neill, which shows the music legend posing next to a barking dog on the artwork for his 1974 album “Diamond Dogs” in London. (Photo by Terry O'Neill)

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.

“Guido Daniele has worked as a hyper-realistic illustrator, co-operating with editing and advertising companies, innovating with airbrush and testing out various painting techniques. In 1990, he developed a body painting technique, and his work has been used in advertising images and commercials, as well as fashion events and exhibitions”. – Wikipedia. Photo: A model poses with her arm after it was painted by body artist Guido Daniele

An artist shows her hands after working on a wall as part of a campaign to call for coexistence and the renouncement of violence through the painting of walls in Sanaa, Yemen March 15, 2015. (Photo by Mohamed al-Sayaghi/Reuters)

A photo taken on August 29, 2014, shows Mount Tavurvur erupting in eastern Papua New Guinea, spewing rocks and ash into the air, forcing the evacuation of local communities and international flights to be re-routed. Mount Tavurvur, which destroyed the town of Rabaul when it erupted simultaneously with nearby Mount Vulcan in 1994, rumbled to life early in the morning on the tip of the remote island of New Britain. (Photo by Oliver Bluett/AFP Photo)

Artist Emiliano Paolini (R), and his partner Marianela Perelli, show their “Ken” doll that they have re-designed into the religious figure of Jesus Christ at their workshop in Rosario, north of Buenos Aires September 23, 2014. Paolini and Perelli have adapted religious figures such as Jesus Christ, Moses and the Virgin of Guadalupe to Mattel's line of Barbie and Ken dolls and are working on more religious figures, although they say they will not be using the Prophet Muhammad to avoid controversy. They plan to have a gallery show in Buenos Aires next October. (Photo by Enrique Marcarian/Reuters)

Dhruva Aliman does a back somersault as he dismounts from a slackline on the beach at Santa Monica, California on October 19, 2014. Slackline is a balance sport where a line of webbing is adjusted at different levels of tension between two anchor points and participants (called slackers) perform tricks and stunts including somersaults. (Photo by Mark Ralston/AFP Photo)