We all know that animals can be very clever. But it seems incredible that you could train them to perform useful inde pendent tasks for a modern military. Nonetheless, that's exactly what the U.S. Navy has done.

    The U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program (NMMP) is a project administered by the U.S. Navy which studies the military use of marine mammals, mostly dolphins and sea lions, and trains the animals to perform tasks such as ship and harbour protection, mine detection and clearance, and equipment recovery. The program is based in San Diego, California, where the animals are housed and trained on an ongoing basis. NMMP animal teams have been deployed for use in combat zones, such as during the Vietnam War and the Iraq War. ......