U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Larry Harris, a Military Working Dog handler, with his dog Aaron prior to training at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan on July 9, 2012. (U.S. Air Force photo/TSgt. Stephen Hudson)

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — His nose is working overtime.  Seeking and scanning the dirt for the unseen. Aaron, a Military Working Dog, and  his handler, Air Force Staff Sgt. Larry Harris, work their pattern back and  forth, while Harris gives Aaron’s long leash slack letting it drag it the  ground. Harris gives his commands of “Seek” followed by words of praise.The teams have already walked several miles from the kennels to the training  site while U.S. Army Staff Sgt.’s Daniel Turner and Joshua Parker have buried  several training aids along a dirt road. This day, the dogs, while working with their handlers, will seek out  the training aids that simulate IEDs. For the next five to six months this will  be their mission, saving lives by finding roadside bombs and other explosives.

Once the training aids are discovered there is a reward – Harris hands  over a blue rubber toy. It signifies a job well done, but the reward is short  lived. It’s back to work for Aaron because there is one more to find before the  exercise ends. He is one of four Military Working Dogs running through a battery of scenarios early in  the morning here before the sun’s heat becomes unbearable.
What they do  is vitally important yet terribly dangerous. While seeking out explosives is  deadly serious work for the handlers and dogs,  their work is priceless to those on the ground they work to protect.

“Soldiers love having dogs out there, and they  are an irreplaceable asset,” said Turner. “When it’s nature over high tech  machines – nature is going to win every time.”

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Matthew Mosher, a Military Working Dog handler, and his dog, Zix, a Patrol Explosive Detection dog, prior to early-morning training on July 9, 2012 at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. The handlers and their dogs rotate through Kandahar Airfield for validation prior to moving out to Forward Operating Bases around the country where they will lead combat foot patrols and sniff out IEDs and other explosives. (U.S. Air Force photo/TSgt. Stephen Hudson)

Turner, a handler since  2003, works training and evaluating the teams coming through Kandahar Airfield.  He gave the analogy of how the dogs can sniff out  explosives.

“When we smell a hamburger, we smell the whole thing. The dogs can smell each component of that burger from  the meat, the cheese, and the rest,” he said.

Since World War II the  military has embraced using dogs in a variety of  combat roles, and the job of sniffing out explosives is at the heart of what the dogs can do.

Tech. Sgt. Matthew Mosher,  who is stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, sat in the shade roughhousing with  his German shepherd, Zix, and talked about the mission of canine. Zix puts his  head down nudging Mosher to pet him more.

“What we are doing is back to  the roots of canine – leading combat foot patrols,” said Mosher, an Orrville,  Ohio native, and handler for five years. “This is what we are intended to do.”

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Larry Harris, a Military Working Dog handler, rewards his dog, Aaron, for finding simulated explosives buried along a road at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan on July 9, 2012 during a training exercise while U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Joshua Parker looks on. The handlers and their dogs rotate through Kandahar Airfield for validation prior to moving out to Forward Operating Bases around the country where they will lead combat foot patrols and sniff out IEDs and other explosives. (U.S. Air Force photo/TSgt. Stephen Hudson)

Zix, and the other three dogs running  through these early-morning drills are Patrol Explosive Detection Dogs.  These dogs and their handlers are passing through  and work a schedule of six days a week of two-a-days. The dogs  and their handlers live and work side-by-side honing their skills through the  Joint Military Working Dog kennels at Kandahar Airfield; where teams rotate in  and out on a constant basis. The teams train to acclimate to the terrain and  weather, and for validation – a process that can take two weeks to 30 days. This  place is the hub for all dogs for RC-South.

Once the validation process was over, the teams are sent from Kandahar Airfield to forward operating bases around Afghanistan, where they will work for  five to six months.

“Our ops tempo is high,” said Mosher, who is on his  third canine deployment.

As Harris and Aaron join Mosher and Zix in the  shade after their turn, Air Force Staff Sgt. Chris Wall and his four-year-old  Malinois, Glenn, make their way down the dirt path. Sniffing and seeking, Glenn  works his pattern and Turner offers words of advice to the handler to improve  their technique.

All of the teams are working well and it won’t be long  that the training is replaced by actual missions. These dogs, and their handlers, will be the running missions  seeking out explosives before they can kill. These dogs are trained to save lives and that is not lost on  those who depend on them most.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Chris Fall, a Military Working Dog handler, carries his dog, Glenn, through a ditch at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan on July 9, 2012. Glenn is a Patrol Explosive Detection dog and together they are working on their validation prior to deploying to a Forward Operating Base to work with ground forces seeking out IEDs on combat foot patrols. (U.S. Air Force photo/TSgt. Stephen Hudson)

“Whenever they [soldiers on the ground]  have a dog, it lessons their chance of getting blown up,” Harris said.