2nd Reconnaissance Battalion ( United States Marine Corps ) The 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion ( 2nd Recon ) is a reconnaissance battalion in the United States Marine Corps . Located at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune , North Carolina the battalion falls under the command of the 2nd Marine Division and the II Marine Expeditionary Force ( II MEF ) . 2nd Recon is a battalion specializing in reconnaissance and surveillance . The Marines of this battalion are also trained in close quarters battle ( CQB ) tactics and other special missions . Recon Marines are sent to various schools to learn various special skills including but not limited to : Scout Sniper school , Jump school , High School , Military Free Fall school , Combatant Dive school , Ranger school , various civilian run schools ( i . e . McMillian sniper school ) , and other Department of Defense ( DOD ) and Special Operations Command ( SOCOM ) sponsored schools . Mission . Conduct ground and amphibious reconnaissance and surveillance and other operations as directed in support of the 2d Marine Division . Provide reconnaissance forces to meet II MEF reconnaissance requirements . History . When the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions were created in 1941 , each had a Scout Company 7 officers and 132 NCOs and enlisted men divided into a headquarters unit and three platoons . The unit had M3 Scout Car s and a motorcycle platoon . The billet for the formation of an Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion on the East Coast happened in 1949 . The Battalion was officially activated 1 December 1950 at a tent camp area of LeJeune which was later moved to Stone Bay Camp . The Battalion was commanded by Major Regan Fuller . From concept to birth you might check out . . . World War II . Tarawa , November 1943 . Prior to D - Day of November 10 , no prior preliminary pre - D - Day reconnaissance was performed prior to their landing except the submarine periscope photography performed by Capt . James Jones , of VAC Amphib Recon Company aboard the . The Marine recon units of 2nd Marine Division participated in seizure and occupation of Tarawa operation . A Scout - Sniper Platoon of 2nd Marine Regiment led by 1st Lieutenant William D . Hawkins were the first unit to land on Betio in the Tarawa Atoll , the site of a strategically important airfield . He was tasked in securing the island ramp on one of the two long piers extending into the lagoon . Hawkins and his recon - scout platoon raced ahead of the first wave in two Higgins Boats and landed on the pier . He charged up the ramp with his scouts but were taken under heavy machine gun fire . Since there were petrol drums at the end of the pier in the line of enemy fire , he sent most of his Marines back down the ramp then proceeded with only five men , four scouts and one combat engineer with a flamethrower . Once they burned and had blown up every hiding place left on the pier , they withdrew to the boat . Hawkins then commandeered three LVTs and transferred his men from both LCVPs to these for the trip to shore where they joined their regiment for the rest of the battle . Lt . Hawkins was later killed during this action and was posthumously received the Medal of Honor . Another Scout - Sniper Platoon from 8th Marines assisted in the main assault landing on D - Day . The Company D ( Scouts ) , 2nd Tank Battalion worked extensively in the seizure and occupation of other islands in the Tarawa Atoll . Other than Betio , it included Eita and many unnamed islets between Betio and Bairiki . The adjacent atolls of Abaiang , Marakei and Maiana were landed for inspection of fortifications , supplies or recent occupancy . Saipan , June 1944 . The 2nd Marine Division ' s scout company performed a series of special missions with 4th Marine Division ' s scout company , that included a recon detachment with 1st Battalion , 9th Marine Regiment ( 1 / 9 ) . Seizing the summit of Mount Tapochau later repulsed a Japanese counterattack on that highest point of Saipan . Both Admiral Richmond K . Turner and General Holland M . Smith declared Saipan secured on July 9 , 1944 . Unit Awards . Navy Unit Commendation ( OEF Deployment ) Trivia . A fanciful depiction of the battalion was featured as the main unit in the 1986 movie Heartbreak Ridge starring Clint Eastwood . The film depicts the battalion ' s involvement in Operation Urgent Fury , the invasion of Grenada .