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Two soldiers and dogs of the 26th airborne brigade of the
Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) rappel down
from a helicopter
Getty Images / TORSTEN SILZ
Article by Jenny Wilson for Time News Feed
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Accompanying the Navy Seals who completed the bin Laden mission was a faithful four-legged fighter.
The trained military dog, either a German Shepherd or a Belgian
Malinois, was attached to a human Seal and lowered from a helicopter
into the compound. Wearing canine armor, he went along to sniff out
hidden explosives or, if necessary, find a secret room of bin Laden's.
Canines often play a significant role in military operations as they can
crawl into small spaces, find enemy soldiers and report back unnoticed
with TV footage from a camera attached to their heads. Their primary
functions "are finding explosives and conducting searches and patrols,"
Maj. Wes Ticer, a spokesman for the United States Special Operations
Command, told the
New York Times, but Ticer said that many times dogs save "the lives of the Special Operations Forces with whom they operate."
The
NYT
reports that according to Gen. David H. Petraus, commander of United
States forces in Afghanistan, that dogs are useful because “the
capability they bring to the fight cannot be replicated by man or
machine.”
German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois dogs have the skills
best-suited to the job (like sense of smell, courage, athleticism,
endurance and intelligence) and thus are most commonly used in the
military. It just goes to show a dog is a man's best friend — as long as
he's on your side.
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