Team McLaren Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton (L) and Jenson Button unveil the new MP-27 Formula 1 car at the McLaren technology centre on February 1, 2012 in Woking, England. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Sixty-eight year old cross-country runner Rosie Swale-Pope is interviewed while sitting in her cart, “The Icebird”, in Upperville, Virginia March 13, 2015. Swale-Pope, who is from Great Britain and once ran an unsupported 20,000 mile run around the globe, is currently running across the United States from New York City to San Francisco in support of cancer research. (Photo by Gary Cameron/Reuters)

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 Flying Bull's P-38 Lockheed Lightning N25Y / 13 – Red Bull – Flying Legends Airshow 2012 Duxford (Photo by Rob Lovesey)

Arsenal football supporters cheering from the train carriage window as they leave Euston Station, London, on their way to Birmingham for their team's match against Aston Villa which they lost 3-5. (Photo by Douglas Miller/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 19th November 1932

French fashion model Christiane Richard wears a bikini while drinking her morning coffee, 1950. (Photo by Nat Farbman/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

People play "Palin", a traditional ritual and ancestral Mapuche game played with curved sticks called "Chuecas" and a wooden ball, during a meet on Dia de la Raza (Day of the Races), also known as Columbus Day in Vina del Mar, Chile October 11, 2015. (Photo by Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters)