Every day of the year, but especially during this month of Thanksgiving, we salute the men and women who have served in the military and those on active duty. Dogs also have a long history of working for the military. Ancient Egyptians, Romans and others trained war dogs to go into battle. Through the centuries, duties changed. Dogs protected and carried messages in the American Civil War and served as mascots on recruiting posters in World War I.
Today, the Defense Department's Military Working Dog Program has an estimated 2,300 working dogs. These dogs serve with handlers from every military service. Together they are deployed worldwide to support the war on terror and help safeguard military bases. Working dogs have an acute sense of smell five to 10 times stronger than a human's. This allows them to detect minute traces of drugs and to detect bombs and other explosives before they create damage or harm humans.
Photo Caption: Tech. Sgt. Chad Eagan and Military Working Dog Benjo spent a great deal of time searching for munitions in Iraq. Eagan and Benjo display their success with a 107mm rocket they found. The team is credited with locating 15 weapons caches, 98 mortars and 70 pounds of TNT. Benjo retired November 12, 2009, and was adopted by a retired military man.