JB Balad wraps up operations

Army Spc. Marisol Landin, health care specialist, right, Staff Sgt. Christopher Middlebrooks, laundry and showers NCO, left, and Spc. Theodore Gigrich, wheeled vehicle mechanic, organize boxes of food at the dining facility at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, Oct. 15, 2011. With the release of food services contractors, Airmen and soldiers joined together at the dining facility to feed the troops during the closure of JB Balad. JB Balad has disassembled units, turned in equipment, and shut down services to transition the base to the Iraqi government. Landin is deployed from Fort Hood, Texas, and is from Jacksonville, Texas. Middlebrooks is deployed from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., and is from Edgewater Park, N.J. Gigrich is deployed from Fort Hood and is from Kalispell, Mont. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo)

JB Balad wraps up operations

Vehicle maintainers inspect turned-in vehicles at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, Oct. 15, 2011. More than 1,000 vehicles were inspected and redistributed as part of JB Balad’s closure. JB Balad has disassembled units, turned in equipment, and shut down services to transition the base to the Iraqi government. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo)

JB Balad wraps up operations

Electric power production Airmen from the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, disassemble the anchor plates of a mobile aircraft arresting system on the flight line of Joint Base Balad, Iraq, Oct. 15, 2011. JB Balad has disassembled units, turned in equipment, and shut down services to transition the base to the Iraqi government. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo)

Service members redeploy to the U.S.

U.S. service members at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, prepare for their flight to the U.S. on Nov. 1, 2011. The group was deployed in support of Operation New Dawn and helped create a more stable, sovereign and self-reliant Iraq. The U.S. military is on track to honor its commitment to the U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement and redeploy the remaining 33,000 troops by Dec. 31, 2011. At the height of the surge in 2007, there were 165,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. This drawdown is one of the largest military operations since World War II. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo)

Service members redeploy to the U.S.

U.S. service members board an aircraft on the Al Asad Air Base flight line Nov. 1, 2011, that will bring them back to the U.S. The group was deployed in support of Operation New Dawn and helped create a more stable, sovereign and self-reliant Iraq. The U.S. military is on track to honor its commitment to the U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement and redeploy the remaining 33,000 troops by Dec. 31, 2011. At the height of the surge in 2007, there were 165,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. This drawdown is one of the largest military operations since World War II. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo)

Service members redeploy to the U.S.

Backpacks belonging to U.S. service members sit on the flight line at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, Nov. 1, 2011, while the troops load luggage onto the aircraft that will bring them back to the U.S. They service members were deployed in support of Operation New Dawn and helped create a more stable, sovereign and self-reliant Iraq. The U.S. military is on track to honor its commitment to the U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement and redeploy the remaining 33,000 troops by Dec. 31, 2011. At the height of the surge in 2007, there were 165,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. This drawdown is one of the largest military operations since World War II. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo)