page_title: 1st Battalion, 8th Marines
section_title: Iraq War
hierarchical_section_title: 1st Battalion, 8th Marines / History / Global War on Terrorism and additional operations (2001-present) / Iraq War
caption_attribution_description: English: Fallujah, Iraq (Nov. 9, 2004) - Gunnery Sgt. Ryan P. Shane (center), platoon Gunnery Sergeant assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion 8th Marine Regiment (1/8), Regimental Combat Team 7, and another member of 1/8, recover a fatally wounded Marine while under fire during Operation Al Fajr. Seconds later Shane was wounded by enemy fire. Operation Al Fajr is an offensive operation to eradicate enemy forces within the city of Fallujah in support of continuing security and stabilization operations in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joel A. Chaverri (RELEASED)
context_page_description: 1st Battalion, 8th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The battalion consists of approximately 1000 Marines and sailors and is nicknamed "The Beirut Battalion." They fall under the command of the 8th Marine Regiment and the 2nd Marine Division.
  The unit's history dates back to World War II where they fought in numerous campaigns in the Pacific including Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian and Okinawa. During the Cold War, they were part of Operation Blue Bat in Lebanon in 1958, the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, intervention in the Dominican Republic in 1965, the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing in Lebanon in 1983 where 241 Marines, sailors and soldiers lost their lives that day. In 1991, they saw action during the Gulf War. Since 2001 1/8 has fought the Global War on Terrorism by serving numerous tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
context_section_description: April–May 2003
  On 5 March 2003 Battalion Landing Team (BLT) 1/8 departed Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) on board the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), USS Nashville (LPD-13), and USS Carter-Hall (LSD-50). The 26th MEU sailed directly to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in order to prepare for the potential invasion of Iraq. Following the Turkish government's denial of the usage of their country for a northern invasion, BLT 1/8 was forced to deploy from Crete and fly nearly 1,100 miles via U.S. Marine C-130 transport aircraft and 440 miles from the far Eastern Mediterranean Sea via CH-53 and CH-46 helicopters into Northern Iraq. On 12 April, the battalion began combat operations in  Irbil and Mosul, Iraq as part of Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force - North (TF - Viking) for Operation Iraqi Freedom. During combat operations in Iraq, 1/8 suffered 1 Marine wounded in action (WIA) on 21 April 2003 from Weapons Company 81mm Mortar Platoon during a night-time probing attack on the Mosul Airport. By 1 May 2003, the battalion was relieved by the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division. The battalion withdrew from Mosul, Iraq and returned to the Iwo Jima ARG waiting in the Mediterranean Sea.
  June 2004-January 2005
  
  The battalion deployed in June 2004 to Iraq as a part of Regimental Combat Team 1 and later RCT-7, 1st Marine Division (Reinforced). From June 2004 to January 2005, 1/8 conducted combat operations in Al Anbar Province in Area of Operations (AO) Denver and later AO Raleigh, including operations in Rawa, Anah, Little Anah, Haditha, Baghdadi, Barwana, Abu Buyatt, ASP Wolf, Hit, Al Asad, Haqlanyih, Karmah, Naser Wa Saleem, Abu Ghuraib, and Fallujah. 
  1st Battalion 8th Marines was one of the lead battalions during Operation Phantom Fury from 8 November to 9 December 2004 leading the assault into Fallujah. During combat operations in Iraq from June 2004-January 2005, 1st Battalion 8th Marines (Reinforced) suffered 21 Marines killed in action (KIA) and nearly 150 Marines wounded in action (WIA) with 17 KIA's and 102 WIA's coming in three weeks in Fallujah in November 2004. 1/8 conducted a relief in place with their sister battalion 3/8 and returned to Camp Lejeune by 1 February 2005.
  August–November 2006
  From 6 June - 6 December 2006, 1/8 was the Battalion Landing Team of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Various elements of 1/8 conducted combat operations in Iraq. One Marine from 1/8 Scout Sniper Platoon was killed in action and several other 1/8 Marines and a Corpsman were wounded on 1 November 2006, while conducting operations in Haditha, Iraq.
  September 2007 – April 2008
  In September 2007, the battalion deployed a fourth time to Ar-Ramadi in Al Anbar Province in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Battalion suffered one Marine killed in action and numerous others wounded during combat operations. The battalion was instrumental in denying the enemy freedom of movement and as a result violence in the war ravaged city declined.
  March–September 2009
  In 2009, 1/8 returned to Iraq for its fifth and final rotation to Al-Taqaddum in Al Anbar Province in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In June, the battalion lost a Marine due to a non-hostile incident.
  AFGHANISTAN CAMPAIGN
  August 2010–March 2011
  In August 2010, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines deployed to Musa'Qaleh and Now Zad, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom 10-2, Regimental Combat Team 2, First Marine Division (Forward), I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force.  The unit's performance in counter-insurgency operations in the two districts were integral in the stabilization of the region and development of Afghan National Security Forces. 1/8 suffered the loss of five Marines and one Navy Hospital Corpsman that were killed in action and numerous others wounded in action during their deployment to Helmand Province.
  January 2012-August 2012
  From January to August 2012, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines deployed to Afghanistan again to conduct counter-insurgency op
caption: Two Marines attempting to recover a fellow wounded 1/8 Marine. During Operation Phantom Fury, November 2004.
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