CAMP SPEICHER — Tomorrow’s Multi-National Force - Iraq change of command also signifies a shift in the Coalition mission in the country, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said while en route to Iraq to participate in the ceremony.

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, who has commanded forces here since February 2007, will turn the reins over to Army Gen. Ray Odierno. Petraeus will become commander of U.S. Central Command on Oct. 31.

FOB LOYALTY — Justice and the institution of law in Iraq took a large step forward recently when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki officially opened a new courthouse in the Rusafa District of eastern Baghdad.

Iraqi Chief Justice Medhat al-Mahmoud, along with Ryan Crocker, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, and Gen. David Petraeus, the outgoing commanding general of Multi-National Force – Iraq, joined al-Maliki and other distinguished visitors for the courthouse grand opening.

WASHINGTON — When security responsibility for Iraq’s Anbar province was turned over to the Iraqi government this month, it validated the security model that has been applied throughout the country, a Coalition spokesman said Sept. 11.

Successful coordination of a surge in U.S. forces, the emergence of the Awakening movement, and political movement by the Iraqi government resulted in the weakening of the al Qaida in Iraq terrorist network into a more containable scattering of individual cells, said Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, director of strategic communications, Multi-National Force - Iraq.