BAGHDAD, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- The U.S. military is well under way with efforts to move 80,000 troops out of Iraq by next year's deadline, officials say.
Brig. Gen. Heidi Brown, the commander responsible for the drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq, said in a statement Sunday that efforts to trim U.S. forces from roughly 130,000 now to 50,000 by Aug. 2010 have proceeded to their second phase.
The Multi-National Corps in Iraq has completed the first phase of the plan -- setting the conditions for the drawdown -- and has moved directly into efforts to ship troops and equipment out of the country, said Lt. Col. Tammie Pettit, the corps' logistics plans chief, at Camp Victory's Al Faw Palace.
"It's been a lot of hard work for a lot of people," Pettit said. "We've done pretty well."
Officials said the Multi-National Corps plans to reduce the number of its bases from nearly 200 to six supply and support hubs, along with roughly 20 smaller bases, called spokes, by September 2010, with complete withdrawal by December 2011.
