By Rebecca Frankel
Chief Canine Correspondent

This week, FP is running a 5-part photo series: The War in Hipstamatic. A mesmerizing collection, these images were shot with iPhones by a group of photojournalists who embedded with the Marines in Battalion 1/8  in Helmand province for five months starting in September 2010. (It's all part of a project called Basetrack -- I encourage Best Defense readers to check it out.) 

The photos from this foray into app-image journalism number in the thousands and I was happy to discover among them three portraits of the company's dogs -- two bomb-sniffers and one adopted stray.

Above: Gunner, a military working dog, looks up from the cot where he was resting at Patrol Base Dehanna, in Nawzad district, on Jan. 9.

Image by Teru Kuwayama

Layla the Dog: TBJ Marines on foot patrol found Layla when she was a puppy, but because of IED risk, taking her on patrols was too dangerous and they decided to trade her for some cigars to Cpl. Brady "Pancho" Cervantes, 23, of 1/8 3rd Platoon, from Dallas, Texas. Here she is with her Marines from the 1/8 at Shir Ghazay Patrol Base in Landay Nawah County, Afghanistan.

Image By Rita Leistner

Cpl. Gretchn at Combat Outpost 7171: Gretchn is IED Detector Dog with 1st Battalion 8th Marines Bravo Company, First Platoon. Here she poses -- just as the rest of her Battalion did -- in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Oct. 30, 2010.

Image by Balazs Gardi

 

COMETLINEAR

3:25 PM ET

July 30, 2011

Nice pics, thanks.

I wonder if dogs get scared by war.

 

GOLD STAR FATHER

2:42 PM ET

August 1, 2011

Scared and Scarred

Interesting dilemma when we take "pets" to war:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/03/bombsniffing-dog-gina-com_n_668522.html

 

NELSON MAHLEY

4:27 AM ET

August 11, 2011

Rebecca's War Dogs of the Week: Hipstamatic canines from the 1/8

In my opinion:

Agreed -
all good dogs and bad dogs stem from the dog owners.
My humans love me -
and thus much hilarity ensued when my Human Dad had to test it on himself first..."If you're not willing to put yourself through it" he said "then why should the dog suffer through it"...I like him :),
Learn more:riley steele

 

AXELBROOK

6:23 PM ET

August 18, 2011

What is wrong with you

What is wrong with you people? you rather have a idiot to take office instead of very experience military man. My husband is in Iraq and he prays McCain is president because he will with drawl properly without loosing any more soldiers or civilians. When Obama won the democratic election the terrorist where dancing in the street they think America will collapse under him. I'm beginning to believe it. numero rio The media won't let you know that..

 

TRAVELING2011

7:21 AM ET

August 20, 2011

When Obama won the democratic

When Obama won the democratic election the terrorist where dancing in the street they think America will collapse traveling2011 under him. I'm beginning to believe it.

 

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military for the Washington Post from 2000 through 2008.

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