3rd Battalion 6th Marines 3rd Battalion 6th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Lejeune , North Carolina . Also known as " Teufelhunden " , it consists of approximately 1000 Marines and Sailors . They fall under the 6th Marine Regiment and the 2nd Marine Division . Subordinate units . Battalion Landing Team / H & S Company / Mike Company ( deactivated ) / India Company / Kilo Company / Lima Company / Weapons Company History . World War I . 3rd Battalion 6th Marines was activated on August 14 , 1917 at Quantico , Virginia as the 3rd Battalion , 6th Regiment . They were quickly deployed during October – November 1917 to France and assigned to the 4th Brigade , American Expeditionary Force . They participated in the following World War I offensive campaigns : Aisne - Marne , St . Mihiel and the Meuse - Argonne . They also participated in the following World War I defensive campaigns : Toulon - Troyon , Chateau - Thiery , Marabache , and Limey . Following the war they took part in the occupation of the Rhineland , December 1918 - July 1919 . They returned during July – August 1919 to Quantico , Virginia . The battalion was deactivated August 20 , 1919 3 / 6 was reactivated June 14 , 1922 at Quantico , Virginia as the 3rd Battalion , 6th Regiment and assigned to the 4th Brigade . They participated in maneuvers at Gettysburg , Pennsylvania , June – July 1922 and attached to the Marine Corps Expeditionary Force . They were shortly thereafter deactivated August 10 , 1922 at Quantico , Virginia Again reactivated June 12 , 1924 at Santa Domingo , Dominican Republic they were relocated during July 1924 to Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . They moved during January 1925 to Quantico , Virginia and were again deactivated February 1 , 1925 . Reactivated April 1927 at Norfolk , Virginia as the 3rd Battalion , 6th Regiment and assigned to the provisional regiment . They deployed during April – July 1927 to Tientsin , China and reassigned to the 3rd Marine Brigade . The Battalion was redesignated October 4 , 1927 as the 1st Battalion , 12 Regiment and redesignated again on April 22 , 1928 as the 3rd Battalion , 6th Regiment . In October 1928 they moved to San Diego , California and were deactivated November 10 , 1928 . World War II . 3 / 6 was again reactivated on November 1 , 1940 in San Diego , California as the 3rd Battalion , 6th Marines and assigned to the 2nd Marine Brigade . In the spring of 1941 they deployed to Reykjavík , Iceland and were reassigned to the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade . They returned January – February 1942 to San Diego , California and reassigned to the 2nd Marine Division . Deployed during October – November 1942 to Wellington , New Zealand they participated in the following World War II campaigns : Guadalcanal , Southern Solomons , Tarawa , Saipan , Tinian and Okinawa . Following the war they were relocated during September 1945 to Nagasaki , Japan . They participated in the Occupation of Japan , September 1945 to February 1946 and arrived back in Camp Pendleton , California during February – March 1946 . They were again deactivated March 27 , 1946 . Post - war years . 3 / 6 was again brought back on October 17 , 1949 on board USS Fremont and assigned to the 2nd Marine Division . The battalion relocated during August 1950 to Camp Pendleton , California and once again were deactivated September 11 , 1950 . 3 / 6 was quickly reactivated September 12 , 1950 at Camp Lejeune , North Carolina and assigned to the 2nd Marine Division . They deployed at various times as Battalion Landing Team 3 / 6 in the Mediterranean and Caribbean from April 1952 to 1958 Global War on Terror . The battalion participated in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan & Pakistan from November 2001 until February 2002 . During this time they assisted in the capture and defense of Kandahar Airfield and as well as the defense of the American Embassy in Kabul in December 2001 . From the summer of 2002 to March 2004 , the battalion functioned as the Marine Corps Anti - Terrorism Battalion deploying forces in support of Combined Joint Task Force - 180 to the U . S . Embassy in Kabul , Afghanistan , Joint Task Force - GTMO in Guantanamo Bay , Cuba and in support of Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa in Djibouti . In March 2004 the battalion resumed their function as an infantry battalion and deployed to eastern Afghanistan from April 2004 to December 2004 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom . Operation Iraqi Freedom . In August 2005 , 3 / 6 made their first deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom . They returned from Iraq in late March 2006 having served in the Anbar Governorate in the Al - Qaim region , an insurgent staging area for travel south to disrupt regional stability . In October 2005 , the battalion performed Operation Ironfist and successfully swept and cleared the cities of Sadah and Eastern Karabilah taking minimal casualties . They also operated as the main effort under RCT - 2 alongside 2nd Battalion 1st Marines during Operation Steel Curtain during which they raided , swept , and cleared the cities of Husaybah and Karabilah . In January 2007 , 3 / 6 deployed to the Al Anbar province at Camp Habbaniyah ; operating from western Ramadi to eastern / southern Fallujah . They returned from a 7 month deployment on August 12 , 2007 In April 2008 , 3 / 6 deployed to the Al Anbar province at Camp Baharia ; near Fallujah , under Regimental Combat Team 1 . They returned from a 7 month deployment on October 27 , 2008 . Operation Enduring Freedom . In January 2010 , 3 / 6 deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom . During this time the battalion participated in Operation Moshtarak , securing and operating in the north of Marjah . They returned from this deployment in August 2010 . Battalion Indian head patch . During World War I the Fifth and Sixth Marines fought in France as the Fourth Marine Brigade of the US Army ' s 2nd Infantry Division were forced to wear the Army ' s uniform . The Marines had only the eagle , globe , and anchor on their soft covers to distinguish themselves from their Army brothers - in - arms . As this did not sit well with the Marines , a patch was designed to distinguish them from their counterparts . A black shield with one five - pointed star and an Indian head with full war bonnet was selected . It is said that the black was for mourning and respect for their casualties , the shield for defense , and the star for the Second Division Commander , Brigadier General John A . Lejeune , and the Indian for General Lejeune ' s nickname " Old Indian . " Another source says the patch was derived from a U . S . Coin in circulation at the time . General Lejeune himself gave a somewhat different history as to the origin of the patch in his 1930 autobiography " The Reminiscences of a Marine . " He states ; " There was no inferiority complex about the Second Division . We knew that we were second to none , but also that we were better than any ! So we adopted the star and Indian head as Division Insignia , the Indian head representing its fighting ability , and the star its spirit or espirit de corps . It was , I think , the First Division of the A . E . F . ( American Expeditionary Force ) to wear insignia . " " We carried the idea out , too , to its logical conclusion by providing a different background for each regiment , each Battalion , and each separate detachment . " The Sixth Marine Regiment used the same design in a diamond shape instead of a shield . The color of the background on which the star was placed shows the battalion : black , headquarters ; green , supply ; purple , machine - gun company ; red , First Battalion ; yellow , Second Battalion ; and blue , third battalion .