Seventy-four years ago; Marines assaulted the island of Betio on the Tarawa Atoll. The Japanese commander said it would take one million men one hundred years to conquer Tarawa. It took the Marines three days.

U.S. Marine Cpl. Dakota R. Harris, military working dog handler, and his specialized search dog, Dude, both with 2D Law Enforcement Battalion, Marine Air Ground Task Force-8 (MAGTF) demonstrate military working dog capabilities during Integrated Training Exercise (ITX) 5-17 at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., July 16, 2017. The purpose of ITX is to create a challenging, realistic training environment that produces combat-ready forces capable of operating as an integrated MAGTF. (U.S. Marine Corps Video by Sgt. Kassie L. McDole)

Marines and their K-9’s with 2nd Law Enforcement Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, train to search for explosives during specialized obedience training at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Jan. 27, 2017. The dogs and their handlers use a combined set of keen senses to spot and sniff out dangerous explosives that might otherwise go unnoticed on the battlefield. Video includes interviews with LCpl. Dakota Ford and LCpl. Nathan Simpson respectively. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Sgt. Anthony Mesa.)