Stories

Lucca, a 12-year-old retired Marine Corps military working dog, visits Camp Pendleton Feb. 29, 2016. Before her retirement in 2012, Lucca completed two deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan where she led approximately 400 patrols until she was injured by an improvised explosive device. No Marines were injured on any patrol she led, including her final patrol where the explosion cost Lucca her front left leg. Lucca has been selected to receive the Dickin Medal, a European award that acknowledges outstanding acts of bravery or devotion to duty by animals serving with the armed forces or civil defense. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Caitlin Bevel) - Lucca, a 12-year-old retired Marine Corps military working dog, visits Camp Pendleton Feb. 29, 2016. Before her retirement in 2012, Lucca completed two deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan where she led approximately 400 patrols until she was injured by an improvised explosive device. No Marines were injured on any patrol she led, including her final patrol where the explosion cost Lucca her front left leg. Lucca has been selected to receive the Dickin Medal, a European award that acknowledges outstanding acts of bravery or devotion to duty by animals serving with the armed forces or civil defense. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Caitlin Bevel)

Cpl. Jeremiah Gerber of the Military Working Dog Platoon, Headquarters and Support Company, 1st Law Enforcement Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force, leads his drug detection dog, “Rocky,” as he detects a hidden target buried underneath their current position during a training exercise aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., Sept. 9, 2015. Exercises like this are designed to help military working dogs familiarize themselves with the scent of potentially harmful substances that they may have to track in the field. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Pvt. Robert Bliss/Released) - Cpl. Jeremiah Gerber of the Military Working Dog Platoon, Headquarters and Support Company, 1st Law Enforcement Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force, leads his drug detection dog, “Rocky,” as he detects a hidden target buried underneath their current position during a training exercise aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., Sept. 9, 2015. Exercises like this are designed to help military working dogs familiarize themselves with the scent of potentially harmful substances that they may have to track in the field. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Pvt. Robert Bliss/Released)