( CNN ) -- Like so many U.S. service members before them , the bodies of Sgt . Phillip Jenkins and Pvt . James McClamrock returned late Thursday to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware , the most recent deaths of the war in Iraq . But in some ways , the differences in their deaths could n't be more striking than the 4,400 that came before them . The men , who died Tuesday , are the first two Americans killed in Iraq since the United States ended its combat role there after seven years . A September 1 ceremony , held at Al Faw Palace in Baghdad , marked the conclusion of the U.S. combat mission dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom and the transfer to the assistance mission , named Operation New Dawn . In their new role , U.S. troops are expected to advise and assist Iraq 's security forces , back Iraqi troops in counterterrorism missions and protect American civilians there during a transitional period . Some 50,000 American troops remain in Iraq . Unless the United States and Iraq forge a new agreement , all U.S. troops are scheduled to depart Iraq by the end of 2011 . Ironically , Jenkins and McClamrock were killed by an Iraqi soldier . The attack occurred inside an Iraqi army commando compound when the soldier , clad in an Iraqi army uniform , fired on the U.S. soldiers near the Salaheddin province city of Tuz , the U.S. military said . The attacker was shot and killed . Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari , a Defense Ministry spokesman , identified the shooter as Soran Rahman , from the Iraqi army 's 4th Division . Al-Askari said Rahman got into a fight with U.S. soldiers , and then pulled his weapon and fired on them before he was fatally shot . A joint U.S.-Iraqi investigation into the incident is under way . The soldiers were part of a security element for a U.S. company commander who was meeting with members of Iraqi security forces at the compound . The bodies of Jenkins and McClamrock arrived at Dover on a cool , clear night , along with the bodies of two Marines killed in Afghanistan . A military chaplain prayed over their transfer cases before they were unloaded from a military charter and brought before their families -- families that may not have expected to lose loved ones after America 's military role was over . CNN 's Kelly Marshall contributed to this report .
The combat operations in Iraq begin September 1 . Two American soldiers die after combat role change . U.S. troops are scheduled to leave Iraq by the end of 2011 .