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English: U.S. Marine Col. W. Blake Crowe, 48, from Alexandria, Va., (center), and commanding officer for the Twenty-nine Palms, Calif.-based Regimental Combat Team 7, listens intently as Maamoon Sami Rasheed al-Awani, Al Anbar governer (right), addresses the room full of local leaders, tribal sheikhs, Coalition and Iraqi Army officials in a town hall-style meeting June 21, 2006. This was the Governer's second visit to the Euphrates River town of Baghdadi, Iraq, since March. Col. Sha'ban Ubaydi (left), is chief of police for Baghdadi. During the visit, Awani presented a ceremonial check, symbolizing about four months in back-pay to Ubaydi and his fellow policemen. The check amounted to about $620,000. "Getting paid is a very good feelingnot because we made money, but because more people will join now," said Shu'aib Hamreen, a 22-year-old Baghdadi police officer. RCT-7 arrived mid-February and took responsibility of the western Al Anbar Province, which spans from the Euphrates River all the way to the Syrian and Jordanian borders spanning about 32,000 square miles of territory. Their primary mission is to train and mentor the Iraqi Army and police forces to take responsibility for securing this area from insurgent activity on their own, to facilitate the eventual withdrawal of Coalition Forces from this region. (Photo by Capt. Mike Alvarez)