1st Battalion, 2nd Marines

1st Battalion, 2nd Marines (1/2) (pronounced "one-two") is an

Subordinate units

• Headquarters and Service (H&S) Company
• Alpha Company
• Bravo Company
• Charlie Company
• Weapons Company

History

Early years

1/2 was activated on January 1, 1933, at Camp Haitien, Haiti and spent the next year and a half in Haiti until its deactivation in 1934.

World War II

1/2 was reactivated in June 1942 deployed to the Pacific theater of

In December 2001, the Marines of Bravo Company were recalled off of Christmas leave after completing their six-month Unit Deployment Program (UDP) to Okinawa. The Marines were sent to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba to provide security for the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, including Camp X-Ray.

Operation Iraqi Freedom

The battalion saw combat during

1/2 deployed again in support of OEF in 2014. Charlie Company manned Patrol Base Boldak and conducted operations in Boldak, Habibibad, Showal, and Mataque, denying the Taliban the ability to conduct attacks on Camp Bastion-Leatherneck during retrograde operations. Bravo company patrolled the surrounding area of the Bastion-Leatherneck complex. Operations conducted in the Central Wadi and Nad-I-Ali were conducted to push back the Talibans ability to conduct attacks on coalition forces until full security responsibility of the area was transferred to the Afghan National Security Forces in October 2014. 1/2 was the last U.S. ground combat unit on Camp Leatherneck, flying out on helicopters hours after control of the base was transferred to ANSF. 10 days after 1/2 turned over security to ANSF the Taliban conducted an attack on the Bastion- Leatherneck Complex[2]

Notable Former Members

• Major General
  Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan and Tinian; received two Silver Stars
  for that service
• Colonel
  John W. Ripley, battalion commander from 1979-1981, and the only Marine to be inducted into the US Army Ranger
  Hall of Fame
• Sergeant Major
  Navy Cross for action during the Battle of Nasiriyah in 2003, and the Bronze Star for heroic actions during the Battle of Najaf
  in 2004
• Alfred M. Gray, 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1st Battalion 2nd Marines.

• List of United States Marine Corps battalions
• Organization of the United States Marine Corps

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.

Notes

Web