3rd Battalion 24th Marines 3rd Battalion , 24th Marines ( 3 / 24 ) was a reserve infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps . The battalion was first formed in 1943 for service in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II , taking part in a number of significant battles including those at Saipan and Iwo Jima before being deactivated at the end of the war . In the early 1960s , the unit was reactivated as a reserve battalion . It was located throughout the Midwestern United States and consisted of approximately 800 Marines and Sailors . The battalion was part of the 24th Marine Regiment and the 4th Marine Division . Recent operations included tours in Iraq and Afghanistan . On May 19 , 2013 , the battalion was deactivated ( retired ) as a part of 2013 Marine Corps Force Restructuring , along with the 24th Marine Regiment . 3 / 24 personnel were reallocated to 23rd Marine Regiment , with the majority of the companies becoming 3rd Battalion , 23rd Marines . Mission . The unit ' s mission is to provide a well - trained and credible force , capable of rapidly mobilizing to augment or reinforce active duty Marine Corps forces participating in missions ranging from humanitarian / peacekeeping operations to major conflicts , in time of war , national emergency or contingency operations and during peacetime to provide operation tempo relief for active forces throughout the spectrum of operations including Joint and Combined Operations . Infantry battalions are the heart and soul of the ground combat element . The mission of locating , closing with , and destroying the enemy with fire and maneuver and repelling the enemy ' s assault with fire and close combat lies with the " grunts " . Marine infantry battalions often have limited organic equipment outside of small arms ( maneuvering by foot as light infantry , and must be supplemented with additional trucks to become motorized infantry or Amphibious Assault Vehicle s to become mechanized infantry ) . Organization . A Marine infantry battalion is organized into three rifle companies , a weapons company , and a headquarters company . The rifle company has three or four rifle platoon s and a weapons platoon with medium machinegun s and mortar s . The weapons company includes a heavy machinegun platoon , a mortar platoon , and an assault platoon . Sometimes , the commander will mix these into Combined Anti - Armor Team s . The headquarters company includes all command , administration , intelligence , operations , logistics , and communication Marines and equipment , as well as the battalion ' s Surveillance and Target Acquisition teams ( which include scout snipers ) . History . World War II . The unit was first activated during World War II , being formed on February 1 , 1943 , at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune , North Carolina , under the designation of " Headquarters Company , 3d Separate Battalion " . Later during the year , the battalion was relocated to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton , California , and redesignated as the " 3rd Battalion 24th Marine Regiment " , and assigned to the 4th Marine Division . During 1944 , 3 / 24 was deployed to the Marshall Islands and participated in the Battles of Kwajalein , Saipan , Tinian , Roi Namur , and Iwo Jima . The battalion commander of the unit during this period was Lieutenant Colonel Alexander A . Vandegrift , Jr . — son of Commandant of the Marine Corps Alexander Vandegrift — until he was severely wounded on Iwo Jima . The fighting on Iwo Jima was fierce and losses amongst the battalion were high . When the battalion reembarked after 35 days of fighting , one of its companies , Captain William T . Ketcham ' s Company I , which had landed on Iwo Jima the first day with 133 Marines in its three rifle platoons , had only nine of these men remaining . After this , during 1945 the battalion relocated to Maui , in Hawaii , before moving to Camp Pendleton , California . Following the end of the war , the battalion was deactivated on October 31 , 1945 . Post - World War II . The battalion was reactivated on July 1 , 1962 at New Orleans , Louisiana , and assigned to the 4th Marine Division , USMCR . During 1967 , the battalion headquarters was relocated to Missouri . The battalion deployed to Greece and Turkey from December 1972 - January 1973 for annual training . 3 / 24 carries the distinction of being the first Marine reserve battalion to go overseas for annual training . 3 / 24 performed as the ground combat element for a multi - national force brigade named CINCSOUTH . Under the charter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) , five countries participated : Greece , Italy , Turkey , England , and the United States . 3 / 24 assaulted the beaches of Greece in the Marine Corps ' brand new LVTP - 7 , commonly known as an " AAV " or " Amtrac . " The battalion deployed to Panama from September to October , 1976 , for annual training . 3 / 24 trained at the Jungle Operations Training Center based in Fort Sherman , near the Panama Canal . Courses included riverine boat operations , jungle living , mines and booby traps , expedient antennas , navigation , helo extract , rapelling , night jungle patrolling , POW rescue , reconnaissance , and rope bridges . Desert Storm / Desert Shield / Gulf War . 3 / 24 was activated with the entire 24th Marine Regiment on November 13 , 1990 , for Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm . During the first week of December 1990 , the command element of the 24th Marines went to Camp Pendleton . 3 / 24 flew to Camp Lejuene , North Carolina , where they undertook weapons firing and chemical warfare training . The regiment ( minus 1 / 24 who were deployed to Okinawa ) then flew into Al Jubayl , Saudi Arabia , on January 1 , 1991 . Throughout that month , the 24th Marines assumed the rear area security mission for I MEF . Lieutenant General Walter Boomer , Commanding General of I Marine Expeditionary Force ( MEF ) , assigned the 24th Marine Regiment the mission to defend the sprawling Al Jubayl Vital Area and other key points from Iraqi military and terrorist attacks . Al Jubayl was the port of entry for the prepositioned supplies that were linked with the 7th MEB in August 1990 . The Al Jubayl command post , known as the " Police Station , " was under the command of Major General John Hopkins . Colonel Germann ( 24th Marine Regiment Commanding Officer ) deployed his regiment in platoon and company defensive positions along a 200 - mile line from Dhahran to Al Mishab , shifting them as requirements changed . Post Desert Storm . Companies from 3 / 24 deployed to Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , from October – November 1994 in support of Operation Sea Signal ( Joint Task Force 160 ) to provide refugee camp security at Camp Alpha , Camp Bravo , Camp Golf , Camp Mike and Camp X - Ray . 3 / 24 also served as a Quick Reaction Force to quell any refugee uprisings , built refugee housing camp facilities , escorted refugees for medical treatment , distributed food and supplies , and conducted perimeter security . In 1997 , the 24th Marine Regiment began deploying reinforced companies to Panama . Their mission was to provide security for the Panama Canal . Companies of 3 / 24 and individual augments deployed to Panama providing Op Tempo relief until the canal came under full Panamanian control in 1999 . Major General Ray Smith , Commanding General II MEF , saw the deployment as offering great opportunities for both the reserve and the Marine Corps as a whole . " It reinforces the total - force commitment of the reserves . It gives the active duty Marines here a good feeling about their reserve counterparts , " said Smith , " and further , this representative unit is a better manned . . . company than anything we ' ve seen out here , except for the MEUs [ Marine Expeditionary Units ] , in the time I ' ve been here . " Global War On Terror ( Iraq / Afghanistan ) . Iraq , OIF II , First Battle of Fallujah . During January 2004 , the battalion was activated in support of Operation Enduring Freedom . 3 / 24 was tasked with relieving elements of the U . S . Army ' s 82nd Airborne Division engaged in counter - insurgency operations in Iraq . 3 / 24 was deployed to four different Forward Operating Base s in the Sunni Triangle area of Western Iraq with the 1st Marine Division ( commanded by General James Mattis ) , which was under I Marine Expeditionary Force ( commanded by General James T . Conway ) . The battalion was spread out between FOB Abu Ghraib , Camp Fallujah , Hadithah , and Al Taqaddum where 3 / 24 was headquartered during the deployment . Elements of the unit participated in the First Battle of Fallujah , the Battle of Najaf , and saw combat in Haditha and the Triangle of Death ( Iraq ) . In August , 2004 , 3 / 24 conducted relief - in - place with 2nd Battalion , 10th Marines . In January 2005 , after returning to the United States , the battalion demobilized in St . Louis , Missouri . " Third " Battle of Fallujah . In 2006 , approximately 400 members of 3 / 24 augmented 1st Battalion 24th Marines and deployed to Fallujah , Iraq . 1 / 24 took heavy casualties in what was later called " The Third Battle of Fallujah " , suffering 22 Marines killed in action with another 331 wounded , including 41 amputees . Due to their relentless aggression , toward the end of their deployment attacks had decreased dramatically . 1 / 24 was able to turn over the majority of the city to the Fallujah Police and Iraqi Army . South America 2007 . In June , 2007 , elements of 3 / 24 along with the 24th Marine Regiment Headquarters deployed to Peru , South America as Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force 24 ( SPMAGTF 24 ) for Annual Training . They trained with partner nation Marines from Argentina , Brazil , Chile , Colombia , Ecuador , Mexico , Paraguay , Peru , Uruguay , and soldiers from the Royal Canadian Army as a part of Partnership of the Americas ( POA ) 2010 . Operation Iraqi Freedom 2009 . 3 / 24 again deployed to Iraq in September 2009 with the 2nd Marine Division under the II Marine Expeditionary Force ( commanded by General Dennis Hejlik ) . 3 / 24 conducted a relief - in - place with 3rd Battalion , 3rd Marines , and Regimental Combat Team 8 ( 8th Marine Regiment ) , taking over counter - insurgency operations in Al Anbar , Iraq . Organized as a Task Force , 3 / 24 was supported by attachments from the 25th Marine Regiment and the 4th Tank Battalion . During their time in Iraq they were responsible for providing military police and convoy security along with training Iraqi forces as TFMP ( Task Force Military Police ) . 3 / 24 was spread out over 500 miles with elements at Al - Qa ' im , Ar Rutba , Al Asad Airbase , Al Taqaddum , and Combat Outposts on the borders with Jordan and Syria . Among other missions , Kilo Company was a helo - borne Quick Reaction Force , while Weapons , India , and Lima companies conducted convoys and patrols in the Fallujah and Ramadi areas of operation . The battalion returned home in February 2010 . 3 / 24 has the distinction of being the last Marine Corps combat unit to leave Iraq . Operations in Afghanistan . 200 Marines from 3 / 24 were deployed to Afghanistan from February – July , 2010 . They were deployed throughout Helmand Province as Military Transition Teams and security detachments . Black Sea 2011 . In May 2011 , 3 / 24 deployed with 4th Force Reconnaissance Company to the Ukraine / Black Sea in support of NATO Partnership for Peace Exercise Seabreeze 11 . Training consisted of combat firing , counter piracy training operations , non - combatant evacuation operations , amphibious assault , airborne operations , and board , search and seizure training aboard ship . Arctic Circle 2012 . In March and April 2012 , elements of 3 / 24 deployed to Norway / Arctic Circle for Operation Cold Response 2012 . The Arctic exercise brought together 16 , 300 troops from 15 allied nations for simulated combat , terror threats and amphibious operations in snow and ice . Deactivation / Retirement . On May 19 , 2013 , the battalion was deactivated ( retired ) as a part of 2013 Marine Corps Force Restructuring , along with the 24th Marine Regiment . 3 / 24 personnel were reallocated to 23rd Marine Regiment , with the majority of the companies becoming 3rd Battalion , 23rd Marines . The battalion colors were retired at the battalion headquarters in St . Louis , MO , and sent for safekeeping to the Museum of the Marine Corps .