The OIF GenerationA field guide to the Iraq War and the generation that fought it
Year by Year · 2011

2011: The Last Convoys

Kuwaiti soldiers watch the last U.S. convoy cross from Iraq into Kuwait, December 18, 2011.
Kuwaiti soldiers watch the last U.S. convoy cross from Iraq into Kuwait, December 18, 2011. U.S. Army photo by Cpl. Jordan Johnson (public domain)

Drawing down

Through 2011, U.S. forces handed over bases, equipment, and responsibilities to Iraqi forces and to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which took on many of the roles the military had played.

The ceremony

On December 15, 2011, U.S. forces held a ceremony in Baghdad to case the colors of U.S. Forces–Iraq. The New Dawn campaign ended that day.

The last convoy

On December 18, 2011, the last U.S. troops crossed from Iraq into Kuwait, ending nearly nine years of American military presence.

What came after

The war's end did not end America's involvement in Iraq. Diplomats, contractors, and, from 2014, U.S. forces returning to fight the Islamic State continued the story. For the OIF generation, December 2011 marked the close of their war and the start of the long work of coming home.