U.S. Navy Airman Ricardo Crisanto sits in the cockpit of an F/A-18E Super Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 22 on the flight deck aboard the USS Ronald Reagan while under way in the Western Pacific Ocean, June 19, 2006.

The Ronald Reagan Strike Group is participating in Valiant Shield 2006, a major military exercise off the coast of Guam.

U.S. Navy photo by
Photographer's Mate Airman Christine Singh

U.S. Marine Sgt. Brett Bartels, a native of Canoga Park, Calif., gives a toy to an Iraqi child during a humanitarian mission in Barwana, Iraq, June 15, 2006. Such humanitarian operations, the 23-year-old said, are the reason many of the local residents are starting to trust Marines, and why insurgents are quickly losing their foothold in the city of 40,000 nestled along the Euphrates River, just southeast of Haditha.

As the region's insurgency is quelled, Marines here are focusing on developing and implementing programs that they say will be eventually turned over to future Iraqi Government workers in Barwana after Coalition Forces withdraw from the city.

Photo by Sgt. Roe F. Seigle

It's a lot of teamwork and responsibility June 18, 2006 as Sgt. Mark A. Berry and Lance Cpl. Perry R. Schultz run the reverse osmosis water purification unit at Blue Diamond just outside of Ramadi.

Berry, a 28-year-old native of Dallas, and his two Marines here utilize the system to produce 15,000 to 18,000 gallons of cleaned, purified and chlorinated water every day for Iraqi Security Forces.

Without the water, the ISF would be severely limited in their ability to prepare food, shower and otherwise survive as they conduct missions in the region.

Photo by Cpl. Daniel J. Redding

Staff Sgt. Jesse Linen, from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, provides marksmanship coaching to an Iraqi soldier near Tal Afar - June 21, 2006.

Photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob Bailey and courtesy of U.S. Army