TIKRIT, Iraq It's 11 a.m. and broiling outside when six Iraqi police officers and their colonel arrive at Camp Speicher, a dusty American base on the outskirts of Tikrit. As usual, the Iraqis are late.

In many ways, the time Charles Upchurch spent in Iraq was not what he expected. It was calmer. As an infantryman, he thought there'd be, as he put it, "a lot more bang-bang." It was also shorter. He was originally supposed to be gone through December. None of that made his homecoming any less sweet.

BASRA, IRAQ The Navy riverines of Squadron 1 can tell a lot by the looks on the faces of the children standing along the shoreline. If they're smiling, the village will probably be friendly. Scowls generally mean the opposite. So, when the riverines pulled their boats up to land at the first stop on their patrol Thursday morning, they were unsure what to make of all the blank stares.

CAMP ADDER, IRAQ It's an odd transition to make, from things like kittens and fish food to assault rifles and night missions. Joshua Lasco has done it three times.

ROUTE TAMPA, IRAQ The soldiers of Blue Ridge 1-6 start their workday just before midnight in a wide-open field of gravel and baked dirt. They picked this place for a reason: It’s big enough to stage the three-mile-long convoy they’ll soon escort south.

BAGHDAD It's a transition that America's highest-ranking military official is calling "Herculean in scope." By Sept. 1, all but 50,000 U.S. troops must leave Iraq, combat operations are supposed to stop, and the mission here will officially become a civilian-led effort to build the country's government and security forces.