Members of Army Engineer units based in Tikrit, Iraq, are mounting river patrols in a �nondoctrinal� operation that taps the combat side of the combat engineers� roots. The 565th Engineer Battalion has run the patrols round-the-clock on the Tigris River since arriving at Saddam Hussein�s home town of Tikrit on April 23.
President Bush on May 1 declared the combat phase of the war in Iraq over and launched the national rebuilding effort to establish a new Iraqi political system and restore the country to economic health. But loyalists of the fallen regime have continued low-grade attacks�ambushes, sniping, road minings and other small-unit actions�on coalition forces that have taken the lives of seven U.S. soldiers in the past week. Military officials now are reassessing the threat to determine whether it indicates that organized resistance is persisting.