U.S. Army helicopters providing support for U.S. ground troops fly into a staging area fifty miles northeast of Saigon, Vietnam, August 28, 1966. Helicopter fuel is stored in the large rubber tanks, foreground. (Photo by Henri Huet/AP Photo)

Japanese chorus girls appear to be drilling in military tactics atop their theater building as they perform salutes, June 30, 1937. The officer is from the Japanese regular army and says the girls display more rhythm in their drills than do the regular troops. (Photo by AP Photo)

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.

A man helps an elderly woman to run for cover after heavy shelling on the only escape route used by locals, while Russian troops advance towards the capital, in Irpin, near Kyiv, Ukraine on March 6, 2022. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Volodymyr, a service member of the Ukrainian armed forces, plays with puppies at fighting positions on the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk region, Ukraine on April 10, 2021. The two unnamed puppies living on frontline positions will be taken home and named by soldiers departing on troops rotation. (Photo by Oleksandr Klymenko/Reuters)

Looters scramble in Philipsburg, St. Maarten, Sunday September 10, 1995 for goods in the Ram's department store, which contained mostly food and liquor. No attempts are currently being made by Dutch troops on the island to stop the looting, since few relief supplies have arrived in St. Maarten, which was ravaged on Tuesday by Hurricane Luis. (Photo by John McConnico/AP Photo)

A woman reacts while walking among the ruins of damaged buildings following heavy fighting between government troops and Kurdish fighters, on March 2, 2016 in the southeastern Turkey Kurdish town of Cizre, near the border with Syria and Iraq. Thousands in Turkey's Kurdish-majority town of Cizre started returning to their homes today after authorities partially lifted a curfew in place since December for a controversial military operation to root out separatist rebels. (Photo by Yasin Akgül/AFP Photo)

Soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army march with their weapons during a training session for a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, at a military base in Beijing, China, August 22, 2015. Troops from at least 10 countries including Russia and Kazakhstan will join an unprecedented military parade in Beijing next month to commemorate China's victory over Japan during World War Two, Chinese officials said. The parade on September 3 will involve about 12,000 Chinese troops and 200 aircraft, Qi Rui, deputy director of the government office organizing the parade, told reporters in Beijing on Friday. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)