U.S., Iraqi leaders bid farewell to last American combat brigade: "FORWARD OPERATING BASE CONSTITUTION, Iraq (Army News Service, Aug. 10, 2010) -- Two Iraqi and three American Soldiers marched crisply across a parade field here to a display where their unit colors and their nations' flags flew in the wind.
The U.S. Soldiers, members of the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division "Raiders," knelt and removed the American flags from the display. After executing a left face, the detail marched off the field from the direction they came, with the 6th Iraqi Army Division and Iraqi Flag remaining on the field.
Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander of United States Forces -- Iraq, Abdel Qader Jassim, Iraqi Minister of Defense and other senior American and Iraqi leaders watched the event.
This gesture -- symbolizing the departure of the Raider Brigade and the commitment of Iraqi Security Forces to the people of Iraq -- brought the Soldiers of the unit one step closer to the end of their year-long deployment as the last combat brigade to depart Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
By Aug. 31, all U.S. combat missions in Iraq will end, and the 50,000 U.S. troops remaining in country under "Operation New Dawn" will move toward stability operations, advising, training and assisting the ISF in building civil capacity in Iraq.
