Americans prepare to pull out of Camp Adder dec 18 11.

American soldiers on Saturday (December 19) prepared for their pull out from Camp Adder, holding a last barbacue before their departure.

"I've got mixed feelings about it, it's good feeling to know that this thing is coming to a close, I was here when it first started and I've seen a lot of progress in this country, a lot of changes. I've got a lot of good memories and alot of bad memories here, so I've kinda got a mixed feelings about the place," said Staff Sergeant Christian Schultz.

"It's kind of excitement in the air. Guys are excited about being home within a week from this point. They are excited about making the last tactical move for their deployment," military spokesman, Jeff Buchanan said, capturing the mood of troops looking forward to being home for Christmas.

Hundreds of convoys of military vehicles and civilian trucks have gone south into Kuwait since President Barack Obama last month said troops would leave as scheduled, effectively ending the large-scale U.S. military presence on Iraqi soil.

The U.S. withdrawal from Iraq after nearly nine years of war is believed to be one of the largest removal jobs in history.

At the start of the year logistics experts calculated there were nearly 3 million pieces of equipment to be moved, from airplanes, helicopters and tanks to laptops and lights.

Toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is dead, executed in 2006, and the worst sectarian violence has, at least for now, passed. But Iraq still struggles with insurgents, a fragile power-sharing government and an oil-reliant economy plagued by power shortages and corruption.

U.S. troops were originally due to stay on as part of a deal to train the Iraqi armed forces, but talks about immunity from prosecution for American soldiers fell apart.

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