President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter, and Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, give a standing ovation to Gen. Lloyd Austin III, commander of U.S. Forces Iraq, as he take the podium during a ceremony held for the returning of the U.S. Forces Iraq Colors at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Dec. 20, 2011. The return of the command colors to American soil represented the end of the eight-year war in Iraq and the return of all troops back home.