A serviceman sketching the Royal Air Force Police Qualified Police Dog (QPD) badge for a mural on a blast wall, Iraq, 2009

Digital image from a collection of photographs relating to Operation BROCKDALE, Iraq, 2009.

The photograph was taken at the Contingency Operating Base at Basra in Iraq during Operation BROCKDALE, the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq in 2009.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) has trained dogs for guard duties since the 1940s. The RAF Police Dog School was amalgamated with the Royal Army Veterinary School to form the Defence Animal Centre at Melton Mowbray in 1995.