3rd Battalion 2nd Marines (3/2) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina consisting of approximately 1000 Marines and Sailors. Nicknamed the "Betio Bastards," they fall under the command of the 2nd Marine Regiment of the 2nd Marine Division.
World War II
Activated 18 January 1941 at San Diego, California. They were assigned to the 2nd Marine Brigade during February 1941. Deployed to Koro Island with the 2nd Marine Division in June 1942. The battalion participated in the following World War II campaigns:
Guadalcanal
Tarawa
Saipan
Tinian
Okinawa
During the Battle of Tarawa, the battalion participated in the amphibious assault on and capture of the small island of Betio in the Tarawa atoll, earning them the nickname "the Betio Bastards."
Following the war the battalion stood occupation duty in Kagoshima, Japan until February 1946 when they redeployed to Camp Pendleton, California. The battalion was deactivated on 27 March 1946.
Post World War II history
3/2 was reactivated on 28 December 1950 at Camp Pendleton, and were again assigned to the 2nd Marine Division. They deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962
The battalion deployed to Saudi Arabia in August 1990 and participated in Operation Desert Storm in early 1991. In 1994 they participated in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia and Operation Deny Flight and Operation Provide Promise.
Global War on Terror
In 2003, 3/2 deployed to Kuwait as part of Task Force Tarawa and beginning in March supported Operation Iraqi Freedom. The battalion participated in the battle of Nasiriyah .During this deployment 3/2 had 1 Marine, Sgt. Nicholas M. Hodson, of Springfield, MO killed in action.
During 2004, 3/2 was designated as the AT (anti-terrorism) battalion and was assigned to different areas around the globe. The battalion was spread between Afghanistan, Djibouti, and Cuba.
The battalion again deployed to Iraq in February 2005. The battalion launched major combat operations Operation Matador, Operation Spear, and Operation Quick Strike. They conducted security and stabilization operations in Al Anbar Province until September 2005. During this deployment 3/2 had 3 Marines killed in action.
The battalion again deployed to Iraq in the July 2006. They conducted security and stabilization operations in the Al Anbar Province in the city of Habbaniyah until mid February 2007. During this deployment the battalion had 14 Marines killed in action.
The battalion again deployed to Iraq in October 2007 operating in the Al Qaim region of the Al Anbar Province with Iraqi Police and Iraqi Army. During this deployment the battalion suffered a few casualties, and had a widespread area of operation along the Syrian border and Euphrates river. The Battalion again deployed to the Persian Gulf in May-December 2009 as the Battalion Landing Team for the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. In January 2010 the battalion was dispatched as part of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit to take part in the relief effort following the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
In February 2011, 3/2 was deployed to the Musa Qal'eh and Now Zad districts of Helmand Province, Afghanistan to engage in combat operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. 3/2 returned in September 2011.
Description
In 1990, fellow Arab Gulf states refused to endorse Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's plan to cut production and raise the price of oil, leaving him frustrated and paranoid. Iraq had incurred a mountain of debt during its war with Iran that had lasted for most of the previous decade, and the Iraqi President felt that his Arab brothers were conspiring against him by refusing to raise oil prices. Therefore, after weeks of massing troops along the Iraq-Kuwait border and accusing Kuwait of various crimes, Hussein sent seven divisions of the Iraqi Army into Kuwait in the early morning hours of 2 August 1990. The invasion force of 120,000 troops and 2,000 tanks quickly overwhelmed Iraq's neighbor to the south, allowing Hussein to declare, in less than a week, that Kuwait was his nation's nineteenth province. The United Nations responded quickly, passing a series of resolutions that condemned the invasion, called for an immediate withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait, imposed a financial and trade embargo on Iraq, and declared the annexation void.
Regarding Iraq's actions as a threat to a vital interest of the US, namely the oil production capability of the Persian Gulf region, President George Bush ordered warplanes and ground forces to Saudi Arabia after obtaining King Fahd's approval. Iraqi troops had begun to mass along the Saudi border, breaching it at some points, and indicating the possibility that Hussein's forces would continue south into Saudi Arabia's oil fields. Operation DESERT SHIELD, the US military deployment to first defend Saudi Arabia grew rapidly to become the largest American deployment since the Southeast Asia Conflict. The Gulf region was within US Central Command's (CENTCOM) area of responsibility. Eventually, 30 nations joined the military coalition arrayed against Iraq, with a further 18 countries supplying economic, humanitarian, or other type of assistance.
Carriers in the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea responded, US Air Force interceptors deployed from bases in the United States, and airlift transports carried US Army airborne troopers to Saudi Arabia. Navy prepositioning ships rushed equipment and supplies for an entire marine brigade from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to the gulf. During the next six months the United States and its allies built up a powerful force in the Arabian peninsula. The navy also began maritime intercept operations in support of a US-led blockade and United Nations sanctions against Iraq.
Coalition forces, specifically XVIII Airborne Corps and VII Corps, used deception cells to create the impression that they were going to attack near the Kuwaiti boot heel, as opposed to the "left hook" strategy actually implemented. XVIII Airborne Corps set up "Forward Operating Base Weasel" near the boot heel, consisting of a phony network of camps manned by several dozen soldiers. Using portable radio equipment, cued by computers, phony radio messages were passed between fictitious headquarters. In addition, smoke generators and loudspeakers playing tape-recorded tank and truck noises were used, as were inflatable Humvees and helicopters.
On 17 January 1991, when it became clear that Saddam would not withdraw, Desert Shield became Desert Storm.
