We have been working on this since last year. As soon as the gates closed we started planning for this year.

Sir, our Iraqi partners have been conducting battalion and Brigade-size operations since April. They have been planning and coordinating with other Iraqi security forces, such as the Iraqi police and local government agencies, preparing for this referendum. Sir, we as coalition forces, we have taken a supporting role only as they prepare to execute this referendum.

All the volunteers and people who have come out have been great. They have really shown a commitment to making this a great event.

We still have the Three-R rodeo, and they did a great job last year. They have helped us out a lot and have given us advice on how to make it bigger and better.

We are planning to set up a committee to offer resource help to those who may decide to take families into their own homes. That would be the goal of a steering committee.

With the hurricane and with everything we haven't had a time that we could meet together, but we're still planning on meeting with people from the county to see if they have any interest.