As both Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen looked on, Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno formally took command of military operations in Iraq during a Sept. 16 ceremony at Faw Palace on Camp Victory. He succeeds Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, who will become commander of U.S. Central Command in October. Mullen hailed Petraeus’ tenure, calling Iraq "a vastly different place" from the violent place it was when he assumed command 18 months earlier. Odierno previously served as one of Petraeus’ chief deputies in Iraq.
