1st Battalion 3rd Marines 1st Battalion , 3rd Marines ( 1 / 3 ) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii . Nicknamed the " Lava Dogs " , the battalion consists of approximately 800 Marines and Sailors and falls under the command of the 3rd Marine Regiment of the 3rd Marine Division . History . World War II . On May 1 , 1942 , the 1st Training Battalion was activated at Marine Corps Air Station New River , North Carolina . A month and a half later , on June 17 , the unit was redesignated as the 1st Battalion , 3rd Marine Regiment . The battalion received its baptismal into combat in November 1943 against the Japanese in the Battle of Bougainville . The Japanese were a formidable foe with the fighting complicated by deep swamps and dense jungles . The battalion fought with distinction for nearly two months before being sent to Guadalcanal to prepare for the next leg of the Pacific Island Hopping Campaign . The Battle of Guam was the next combat assignment for 1st Battalion , 3rd Marines . The amphibious assault began on July 21 , 1944 . Once again , the battalion encountered a tenacious enemy and the fighting on the proved to be both bloody and costly . Organized resistance officially ended on August 10 and the Guam was declared “ secured ” . However , numerous Japanese remained at large in the jungle refusing to surrender . Subsequently , the battalion participated in “ mopping - up ” operation through the latter part of October . In early 1945 , 1st Battalion , 3rd Marines , as part of Regimental Combat Team 3 , was to be the floating reserve for the amphibious assault of the Battle of Iwo Jima . The battalion , however , was never called upon to land or to take part in the battle for Iwo Jima . Instead it returned to Guam in March where it continued to remove the small pockets of Japanese resistance that still remained on the island . The battalion remained on Guam through the surrender of the Japanese in September 1945 . Although the end of the war signified the end of hostilities , there was still much work to be done . The Islands in the Pacific held by the Japanese had to be demilitarized and the Japanese forces repatriated to mainland Japan , this job fell to 1st Battalion , 3rd Marines , soon to be known as the “ Chichi Jima ” Marines . Chichi Jima was an Island fortress , often referred to as the Gibraltar of the Pacific , located in the Ogasawara Island chain 615 miles south of Tokyo . After 14 years of war in China and the Pacific , Japan had arrived at a mortifying surrender . At exactly 1015 on December 13 , 1945 , the Japanese flag flying over Chici Jima was lowered from its staff . The Japanese Color Guard folded the flag and presented it to the Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion , 3rd Marines . At 1025 , the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps sounded Colors and everyone present , American and Japanese alike , rendered a salute as Old Glory was raised to her lofty summit . With the Japanese threat removed from Chichi Jima , 1st Battalion , 3rd Marines returned to Guam where it was deactivated on February 9 , 1946 . Vietnam War . 1st Battalion , 3rd Marines became the second American infantry unit to enter South Vietnam . The battalion began its movement , via air , to Da Nang in early March 1965 and completed its movement by mid - March . Less than six months after its arrival , 1 / 3 was withdrawn to Okinawa . The battalion was sent back to Vietnam on November 18 , 1965 . The 1968 Tet Offensive ushered in a new wave of intense combat activity for the Marines and in May , 1 / 3 found itself heavily engaged in fighting North Vietnamese units at the village of Dai Do near the Cua Viet River . In 1969 . the United States began to slowly withdraw combat units from Southeast Asia . One of the first Marine units to be notified to commence stand down operations was 1st Battalion , 3rd Marines . The unit departed South Vietnam for the United States on October 5 , 1969 . Towards the end of the month the battalion arrived in California and was located at again at Camp Pendleton . Shortly thereafter , it was reduced to zero strength , effective November 18 , 1969 . It then was reestablished at Kaneohe Bay , Hawaii as part of the 1st Marine Brigade on November 27 , 1969 . In 1964 - 65 the 1st Battalion 3rd Marines were FIRST American infantry to enter South Vietnam and came in BY SEA . Movement to Da Nang was ON GROUND . 1980s . In December 1989 , 1 / 3 responded to the 1989 Philippine coup attempt as part of an amphibious task force and sent Marines ashore to reinforce the American Embassy . The Gulf War and the 1990s . In August 1990 , 1st Battalion , 3rd Marines deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield and took up defensive positions along the coastal highway leading to Kuwait . In February 1991 , 1 / 3 assaulted into Kuwait as part of the ground war of Operation Desert Storm to liberate the country from Iraqi occupation . In April 1991 , the battalion redeployed to Kaneohe Bay . The Global War on Terror . On September 11 , 2001 , 1 / 3 was on the Unit Deployment Program to Okinawa , Japan . Alpha company was one of the first infantry units to deploy to the Middle East after September 11 , 2001 . The company was attached to 5th Fleet out of NSA Bahrain and subsequently deployed in direct support of Combined Task Force 53 ( CTF 53 ) for the initial phase of Operation Enduring Freedom . In October 2002 , an Army Special Forces Sergeant First Class ( SFC ) was killed in the Southern Philippines by an IED . Shortly after , Charlie company with some Weapons company attachments deployed to Zamboanga City , Philippines as the Marine Security Element for JTF - 555 / JSOTF - P in support of Operation Enduring Freedom Philippines . April 2003 , 1 / 3 departed Kaneohe for another UDP in Okinawa , Japan . Alpha company , with Weapons company reinforcements left for the Philippines as the MSE under the guise of JTF - 510 . Alpha company carried out many joint missions with Navy SEAL / s , SWCC , and the CIA in terrorist surveillance activities , and security missions in Zamboanga Bay . Also , despite the constant threat of attack from the Abu Sayf , and the MILF ( Moro Islamic Liberation Front ) , Alpha carried out security for many Engineering Civic Action Programs ( ENCAPs ) by building schools and repairing hospitals deep in the jungle . Alpha Company Navy Hospital Corpsman also carried out two major MEDCAPs seeing a total of 17 , 000 patients . In June 2004 , 1 / 3 ( also known at the time as BLT 1 / 3 , and including Battery C 1st Battalion 12th Marines - also from MCBH ) set off to tour what was known as a standard deployment around the South Pacific region with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit ( MEU ) . In early October 2004 , the unit arrived in Kuwait and soon after entered Iraq . The unit fought in the Second Battle of Fallujah as part of Regimental Combat Team 1 to clear the city of insurgents and reclaim the city . BLT 1 / 3 has produced one of very few nominations for the Medal of Honor thus far in the Global War on Terror , Sergeant Rafael Peralta . After insurgents threw a grenade into a room with several Marines , Sergeant Peralta used his body as a shield to protect his ' brothers - in - arms ' from the blast . On January 26 , 2005 , a CH - 53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed in the Al - Anbar province taking with it the lives of 26 Kaneohe Bay Marines , along with one Navy Corpsman and four Marine aircrew from a mainland unit . The majority of the 27 Marines lost in the crash were from Charlie Company of Battalion Landing Team 1 / 3 . Battalion Landing Team 1 / 3 lost a total of 45 Marines during the course of their first combat tour in Iraq . In January 2006 , the battalion deployed to eastern Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom . During this five - month deployment they operated throughout the Korengal Valley and were known as " Task Force Lava . " On June 1 , 2006 , 1 / 3 handed over their area of operations to the 1st Battalion , 32nd Infantry Regiment and would soon be returning to Hawaii . In March 2007 , 1st Battalion 3rd Marines deployed to Haditha , Iraq . This unit managed to come home in October with zero Marines killed in action . This is the first Marine Corps battalion to accomplish this since the start of OIF . The Battalion deployed to Karma , Iraq in August 2008 . The Battalion again deployed to Afghanistan in November 2009 through June 2010 , taking up positions in and around FOB Geronimo , within the district of Nawa - I - Barakzayi , Helmand Province . In February 2010 , the battalion participated in Operation Moshtarak , the seizure of the Taliban stronghold of Marjah . The activities of Bravo and Charlie Companies were covered extensively in a series of articles by C . J . Chivers in the New York Times , and in the " At War Blog " posted on the New York Times website . The Battalion deployed once more to Afghanistan in April 2011 , taking up positions south of FOB Delhi , in Garmsir District , Helmand Province .