Relief in Place/Transfer of Authority

Relief in Place/Transfer of Authority (RIP/TOA) is the current acronym combination used to describe the changeover of units in Iraq. Essentially, a unit arrives, learns the job from the unit it's replacing, then executes the job while the outgoing unit watches, then when everyone is satisfied the new unit can adequately do the job, the outgoing unit gets to leave. I think it safe to say that by the time the outgoing unit leaves, it is a huge relief to the incoming unit. You want your space, you want your equipment, and if your unit is self-confident, you want the mission and to be left alone. Just as anxious as they were to leave, we we ready to start. The next group of photos were take during the RIP/TOA with the group we relieved.