Photo: U.S. Air Force – Tech. Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez
10. Everyone loves man’s best friend and soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen love canines even more when they help serve in the military. Troops can’t but love a small pup raised in a tight knit unit, especially when they are up skilled to the super-dog ability of Special Forces. See the dog above and his US Army Special Forces handler jump into the sea off the back of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter.
9. This adorable combat dog called Layka, parachuted with her handler recently to help her fellow combat dogs. While serving in Afghanistan, Layka was shot four times by the enemy. Despite the injuries, she attacked and subdued the shooter, saving her handler and other members of the team. In surgery to save her life, she lost a front leg, and her handler, Staff Sgt. Julian McDonald, later adopted her. Here, with McDonald, Layka took part in testing a parachute harness that could make it easier and safer for dogs to help soldiers reach remote locations.
Source: National Geographic
75th Ranger Regiment Canine
8. Rangers from Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, and a war dog pause during a night time combat mission. multi-purpose canines (MPCs), and are used used in Special Operations teams, Especially the Ranger Regiment. They’re a tiny subset of military dogs, but can serve very important roles.
Australian Special Operations Task Group (SOTG)
7. Military working dogs provide Special Operations Command (SOCOMD) with specialist sensory, detection and protection capabilities to counter numerous threats across a range of environments – both domestically and overseas. This is achieved through highly trained military working dog and handler teams. Dogs provide a sense of smell and hearing far superior to that of a human, are obedient and responsive when well trained, and can operate effectively for extended periods.
Special Operations military working dogs perform several roles:
- Detection – explosive or narcotics detection
- Tracking – primarily of adversary movements in an area of operations
- Early warning – of adversary positions
- Asset and personnel protection – the psychological effects of dogs on adversaries.
Source: Australian Army Military Dogs
6. An elite Navy SEAL canine who once patrolled for IEDs and taking down the enemy in Afghanistan, moved to a new role with the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. 10News Anchor Kimberly Hunt tracked down Rex, who demonstrated his amazing search skills. Rex’s old role was to lead the way for SEALs insuring they were safe from insurgents, guns and IEDs. Now he tracks suspects on the run and helps locate hidden contraband. You tell that this do loves to work. The good news is that when he retires he will be re united with his former SEAL handler.
Skydiving with Special Ops Dog.
5. An Austrian Jagdkommando dropping from 10,000 ft with an explosives sniffing dog. Infiltration techniques are part of all special forces units around the world. These military dogs would be more qualified and see more action from this kind of work than the average everyday soldier.
French EOD With Military Bomb Sniffing Dog
4. A French soldier patrols with his Explosives Detection Dog named Kappa in a street of Gao, Mali on April 5, 2013. The United Nations expressed concern over reprisal attacks against ethnic Tuaregs and Arabs in Mali, where a French-led intervention recently routed Islamist rebels.Notice the dog is wearing booties to protect his feet from the hot desert sand.
Military dogs are fiercely loyal to there handlers.
3. A US Navy SEAL and his Belgian Malinois during an exercise. The Special Operations military working dogs are a variety of breeds and ages, and are sourced directly from breeders or animal rescue organisations. Mixed breeds have shown to be just as effective in explosive detection dogs as pure bred dogs. Some roles do require dogs to be fit for purpose and suitable for employment in specific operational environments.Military working dogs form a very close relationship with their designated handler, and indeed with all members of the units they are posted to, and are regarded as an integral component of their respective units.
2. A demonstration with the a Special Operations Navy SEAL dog at the National Navy UDT SEAL Museum. Mostly what SEAL dogs do is kept a secret. At this demonstration you see the highly specialised dog take down a insurgent in a simulated battle. SEAL dogs have been used in a variety of missions and most famously one SEAL dog was utilized to help search and locate Osama Bin Laden.
Photo: US Marine Corps – Sgt. Pete Thibodeau
1. This dog named Wilbur, a US Marine Special Operations Team member, tries on his handlers helmet after a patrol with Afghan National Army special forces to escort a district governor to a school in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
