--- title: "It’s Military Working Dog official picture day" description: "The military working dogs of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing — Neptune, Zorro, Ttommaso and Cory — had their official portraits taken." date: "2024-05-14" modified: "2024-05-14" authors: - name: "Matt White" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/matt-white/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/military-working-dog-portraits-2024/" categories: - "Air Force" - "Military Branches" - "News" --- # It’s Military Working Dog official picture day ![]() *Neptune, an Air Force Military Working Dog assigned to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, poses for an official portrait at an undisclosed location within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, May 14, 2024. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Mercedee Wilds.* Be sure to get a good bath the night before and wake up early to try on five outfits and reject them all because it's Picture Day at the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, which means a new round of official portraits for military working dogs. Officials with the 380th wing at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, released the official portraits of four of its military working dogs — Neptune, Zorro, Ttommaso and Cory — along with [a backstage video shoot with the dog's handlers](). All appear to be very good dogs**.** ![]() *U.S. Air Force Military Working Dog, Zorro. Photo by [Tech. Sgt. Mercedee Wilds]().* The wing's Facebook indicates that the dogs are deployed to the 380th from units at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, Moody AFB, Georgia and Tyndall AFB, Florida.The dogs, the wing said in a release, "along with their handlers, are a highly trained team in all aspects of canine law enforcement, including detecting drugs and explosives." Though officials did not specify the breeds of the four dogs, most working dogs across the U.S. military are at least part-German Shepherds or Belgian Malinois, a loyal, highly-trainable working breed that resembles German Shepherds but are smaller. ![]() *U.S. Air Force Military Working Dog, Ttammaso. Photo by [Tech. Sgt. Mercedee Wilds]()* Regardless of branch, all U.S. military working dogs begin their careers at the [120-day Military Working Dog Training Program]() at the 341st Training Squadron at Joint Base-San Antonio, Texas, which has been training dogs since the 1950s. Most dogs that graduate sniff out explosives or detect drugs. ![]() *U.S. Air Force Military Working Dog, Cory. Photo by [Tech. Sgt. Mercedee Wilds]().* Working dogs are nearly everywhere in the modern U.S. military, from [Coast Guard drug enforcement]() to [routine base security]() to [special operations raids in Afghanistan and Iraq](). The 380th wing is one of five flying wings that make up Air Force Central, the air component of U.S. Central Command. The 380th flies air-to-air refueling tankers and the MQ-9 Reaper. ## The latest on Task & Purpose - **Marines want to** [**wear their uniform**]() **for high school graduation, but their school said no** - [**AC-130 gunship crewman**]() **killed in shooting with Florida sheriff deputy** - **The Space Cowboys: Guardians earn their spurs in** [**cavalry tradition**]() - **Soldier** [**detained in Russia**]() **may have been set up by girlfriend, mother says** - **Army debuts new recruiting ads aimed at** [**high-tech civilians**]() **rather than soldiers** ## Author Matt White is a senior editor at Task & Purpose*.* He writes on news, people and events that affect the lives of those in the Army, Air Force and Space Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. He also helps direct and edit coverage across Task & Purpose’s newsroom. He has written widely on military aviation and mishaps, service members with unique stories, and special operations including [combat search and rescue](). Got a story to tell? You can reach Matt at [matthew.white@taskandpurpose.com]() ### Author social links [Facebook]()