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.

“Most recently, the bushy beard’s masculinity has been turned off and instead adorned with flower power. A wacky new trend sees hipsters weave foliage into their facial hair. It’s emerging across boho America. Yes, men in Brooklyn, Portland and San Francisco are adorning their faces with blossoms, seemingly for the sole purpose of artistic portraits that have been taking over the social media with the hashtag #flowerbeards. It started gaining popularity on the social platform of Tumblr, when a blogger began “Will It Beard” project, and has since blossomed elsewhere around the Internet”. – Linda Sharkey via The Independent. (Photo by designsquish/Tumblr)

A man holds a pigeon during the British Homing World show of the year at Blackpool's Winter Gardens in Blackpool, north west England on January 17, 2016. Homing pigeon fanciers from across Europe gathered to find the Supreme Show Champion with judges casting their eyes over hundreds of birds on show. The Royal Pigeon Racing Association organises the event and has Queen Elizabeth II, who keeps pigeons at Sandringham, as its patron. (Photo by Andrew Yates/Reuters)

Figurines representing French Brigade of Lancers are seen on a 40-square-metre miniature model of the June 18, 1815 Waterloo battlefield, in Diest, Belgium, in this picture taken on April 29, 2015. Waterloo enthusiast Willy Smout said he spent 40,000 hours and around 150,000 euros over the past 40 years, to recreate the battlefield as closely as possible in a purpose-built room in his house. (Photo by Francois Lenoir/Reuters)

A woman looks for fruits to buy inside a bus called Sacolao in Santa Teresa neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 7, 2015. The bus, which began operating as a municipal initiative but has been taken over by a private enterprise, arrives every week in some neighborhoods to facilitate families with their grocery shopping and sells food at an affordable price, according to sellers. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

In this photo taken on Thursday, July 23, 2015 migrants enter a train to Serbia at the railway station in the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija. The country has become a major transit route for thousands of Middle Eastern and African refugees and migrants who cross over from Greece and then continue into Serbia. (Photo by Boris Grdanoski/AP Photo)

Residents wade through flood waters from Tropical Storm Harvey in Beaumont Place, Houston, Texas on August 28, 2017. Houston was still largely paralyzed Monday, and there was no relief in sight from the storm that spun into Texas as a Category 4 hurricane, then parked itself over the Gulf Coast. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Reuters)

A competition, now in its 43rd year, dedicated to showcasing the beautiful and bizarre as seen under a light microscope attracted over 2,000 entries from 88 countries. Here: Honorable Mention by Emre Can Alagöz, Istanbul, Turkey: The eyes of a jumping spider, magnified 6x. (Photo by Emre Can Alagöz/2017 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition)