3rd Reconnaissance Battalion The 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion conducts amphibious and ground reconnaissance in support of the 3rd Marine Division and Marine Forces Pacific ( MarForPac ) , operating in the commander ' s areas of influence . The Battalion is based out of Camp Schwab , a satellite base of Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D . Butler . It is geographically located on the Okinawa Prefecture in Japan . Organization . The 3rd Recon Battalion consists of approximately 450 Marines and Sailors that falls under the command of the 3d Marine Division , III Marine Expeditionary Force . Company B was formed from the 5th Force Reconnaissance Company due to the formation of the Marine Special Operations Teams ( MSOT ) in 2006 . 3rd Recon Battalion supports the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit by augmenting a Reconnaissance and Surveillance ( R & S ) Platoon . History . World War II . In January – February 1943 , they deployed to Auckland , New Zealand . During the recapture of Guam , the 3rd Marine Division and the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade each had its own reconnaissance company . Major General Lemuel C . Shepherd split the 3rd Division ' s scout and sniper company into its three platoons to attached each to the brigade ' s regiments , the 4th and 22nd . The 22nd Marine Regiment ' s commander , Colonel Merlin F . Schneider , kept his regiment ' s assigned recon platoon close to the command post ( CP ) . They were used to for rapid deployment on recon missions for the regimental commander , or when not being used on a specific mission , they guarded the CP . Colonel Schneider retired with the rank of Brigadier General after receiving the Navy Cross and Bronze Star . At night , a landing was made on W - Day , General Shepherd and each of his regimental commanders waited for the usual nightly Japanese counterattacks . The Japanese forces was led by Japanese Colonel Tsunetaro Suenaga of the 38th Regiment from the Imperial Japanese Army ' s 29th Division . At 2130 , Colonel Suenaga probed his attacks at the juncture of the regimental boundaries between the 3rd Marine Division ' s 4th Marines and the Marine Brigade ' s 22nd Marines . The enemy charged in force and overran the forward Marine lines and began to penetrate the thinly held rear areas . Using grenades , small arms , mortars , bayonet and close quarters combat , they were able to hold of the attacking Japanese army . However , one Japanese element during their counterattack managed to reach the 75 mm pack howitzer artillery position before they were ultimately stopped by the gun crews . A Japanese company of infiltrators approached the regimental command post . At this point , the Marine defenders , all hands — clerks , cooks , and supernumeries , rallied around 1st Lt . Dennis Chavez , Jr . recon platoon . They too immediately stopped the Japanese attack . By dawn , the Japanese 28th Infantry Regiment was eliminated . Colonel Suenaga was wounded and later killed in these attacks . Within the 1st Marine Prov . Brigade , on the night of 25 – 26 July 1944 , Colonel Craig , the commanding officer of 9th Marines and the adjoining 21st Marines were concerned about the front line that was left open . Craig opted to use his regimental scout platoon to help fill the gap between the regiments . At about 2330 , a forward operating post reported increased activity . By midnight , artillery and mortar fire bombarded the area starting another major counterattack by the Japanese . As a consequence , the lightly armed scout platoon was forced to fall back . The last reconnaissance on Guam was conducted by a mechanized reconnaissance - in - force . A force consisted of Alpha , Echo ( Scouts ) , and H & S Company of 3rd Tank Battalion ; and I Company of 21st Marines . During the last major actions beginning 3 August 1944 , the 1st Battalion , 9th Marines ( 1 / 9 ) had secured a series of roads that junctioned in Finegayan Village , in the northern section of the islands . Lieutenant Colonel Hartnoll J . Withers led the group , moving north - northwest . Two M3 Half - track , two jeeps for communications purposes and one platoon of tanks supported by an infantry platoon were maneuvering toward Road Junction 177 . Their column was immediately hit by heavy concentrated fire from 75 - mm and 105 - m artillery , tanks , mortars and heavy small - arms and machine guns . The Marines returned fire and after two hours , the Marines managed to destroy two of the 75 mm guns , one Japanese tank , and several machine - gun nests . Recognizing the Japanese held the advantage in terrain and cover , the Marines withdrew their forces back . Later it was determined that the attack was against a full Japanese battalion of " Rikusentai " , the elite Special Naval Landing Force . Guam was finally declared secured on 10 August 1944 , after an intense three - week battle . In December 1945 , they returned to Camp Pendleton , and were deactivated on 31 December 1945 . Vietnam War . The first U . S . military force that landed during the Vietnam War were two Marine units . On 10 – 14 April 1965 , two battalion landing teams ( BLT ) of 3rd Marine Regiment landed on the beaches of Da Nang in Vietnam unopposed . They were the 2nd and 3rd Battalion from the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade . Their objectives were to secure an airfield at Phu Bai and establish an effective beachhead . The Marines made their first firefight encounter on 22 April 1965 , against a small company of Viet Cong . A patrol of men from Company D of 3rd Recon was scouting 13 kilometers southwest of Da Nang . The Marine patrol was accompanied by a few platoons from the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN ) . After a brief intense exchange of small - arms fire , the outnumbered recon Marines radioed in for support . An infantry company from Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion , 3rd Marines ( BLT 1 / 3 ) reinforced the small group of Company D and the ARVN . The combined force was able to push the hostile force back several kilometers before losing them in the heavily foliaged terrain . Two days later on 24 April , a recon squad positioned two kilometers south of Phu Bai fell under a surprise attack by VC as the Marines were setting up defensive positions for the night . Although the firefight lasted for only a few minutes , each side lost two men . The beachhead was secured a couple of weeks later . In the later afternoon of 7 May 1965 , elements of 3rd Recon Battalion arrived at Chu Lai from Da Nang and secured the beachhead ' s southern flank as BLT 1 / 4 was setting up several kilometers inland . A few days later , BLT 3 / 3 arrived from Okinawa , and 3rd Recon Battalion returned to Da Nang . Actions that summer led to a Marine , 1stLt Frank S . Reasoner , becoming the first Marine in South Vietnam to earn the Medal of Honor . On 12 July 1965 , an 18 - man patrol from Company A was under fire about 20 kilometers southwest of the Da Nang Air Base . Reasoner , the patrol leader , and his patrol were under a barrage of heavy fire . His radio operator was hit by enemy fire . Reasoner came to the operator ' s aid as he provided cover , killing two VC and interrupting hostile automatic weapons fire . As Reasoner was about to render hasty first aid to his radioman , he was mortally wounded . The 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion lost its last full team , call sign " Flight Time , " on 4 June 1969 . No other full team was lost during the remaining six years of the Vietnam War . The team ' s " Last Known Activity " report reads : 2 June 1969 Recon Team " Flight Time " from D Company , 3rd Recon Battalion , was inserted on Hill 471 about a kilometer south of Khe Sanh in the Quảng Trị Province , Vietnam . On the night of 3 / 4 June 1969 the team was attacked by an enemy force and requested both emergency extraction and immediate reinforcement . Communications with the team were lost at 0320 . When the reactionary force arrived a little after 0400 they were too late . . . the six members of " ' " Flight Time " " were killed in action . Five members of the team were in a small trench ; the sixth , was approximately 10 meters further down the hillside . It was apparent from the state of the battle area that " Flight Time " had been overwhelmed in fierce hand - to - hand combat . — Declassified document : 3 / JEK / wjc 5750 . 6 003A1911969 of 10 July 1969 Team members were : 1stLt Michael M . O ' Connor , Cpl William A . Buck Jr . , Cpl William M . Wellman Jr . , LCpl Douglas W . Barnitz , Pfc Robert L . Pearcy and Pfc Harold A . Skaggs . Interim Years , 1975 – " present " . The battalion served in the Gulf War including being involved in the Battle of Khafji . In March 2004 , elements of Company B deploy to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom . On 13 February 2005 , 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion deployed to Iraq to conduct combat operations in the Anbar Governorate , and was the focus of the documentary film " " . From September 2006 to April 2007 , 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion deployed to Iraq to conduct combat operations in the Al Anbar Province . From April to November 2008 , 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion deployed to Iraq to conduct combat operations in Al Anbar Province for its third combat tour . In November 2009 , elements of the Battalion deployed in support Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan . In May 2011 , the Battalion deployed again to Afghanistan , this time to the Sangin District of Helmand Province . They conducted a Relief - In - Place ( RIP ) with 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion , taking over Patrol Base ( PB ) Alcatraz and began conducting operations in early June , returning home to Okinawa in fall 2011 .