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A Riverine Assault Boat from Detachment-1, Riverine Squadron-3, speeds toward civilian contractors with Joint CREW [Counter Radio-controlled IED Electronic Warfare] Composite Squadron-1, out of Baghdad, to test the effectiveness of the boat's anti-IED CREW system under realistic operational conditions, near Contingency Operating Base Basrah, Dec. 14. Photo courtesy of Multi-National Division – South. BASRAH — The Sailors of Riverine Squadron-3 are an integral part of the defense of Contingency Operating Base Basrah, patrolling the waterways to deter attacks against the base. Yet, while they are watching the backs of everyone here, there are plenty of threats to their own safety...

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE PBR The kind of warfare that was waged in the inland waters of South Vietnam was last practiced by the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. As a result much of the tactics were developed by trial and error. Sailors learned their lessons well and became a formidable fighting force that wrested control of the water ways from the Viet Cong (VC) and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). No boat came to symbolize the Brown Water Navy like the small fragile River Patrol Boats (PBR) of Task Force 116 (T.F. 116), Code named Game Warden....