1/2 was activated on January 1, 1933, at Camp Haitien, Haiti and spent the next year and a half in Haiti until its deactivation in 1934.
World War II
1/2 was reactivated in June 1942 deployed to the Pacific theater of World War II. While there, the unit participated in the bloody "island hopping" campaign, fighting at Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa. After the war, 1/2 spent a brief period on occupation duty in Japan, including Nagasaki, before returning to Camp Lejeune where it stood down in November 1947.
1950s–1990s
Reactivated again in October 1949, the battalion has since regularly deployed to the Caribbean and Mediterranean regions. 1/2 has seen operational service during the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), Dominican intervention (1965), operations in the Persian Gulf (1988), Eastern Exit (Somalia evacuation, 1991), Desert Shield and Desert Storm (1990–91), Haitian refugee (1992), Somalia (1993), and Cuba (1994), Operation Noble Obelisk-Freetown, Sierra Leone (1997). The unit has also deployed with the Unit Deployment Program and Camp Lejeune-based MEUs.
Marine CPL's David J. Docimo, Austin Quehl and Dustin Bray with Bravo Company 1/2, raise the US Flag for the 1st time over "Freedom Heights" Camp X-Ray Cuba 2002A Marine from 1st Battalion clears a building in IraqMarines climb a rocky outcrop along the Euphrates River during Operation Koa Canyon in 2006
The battalion deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in March 2010. Their area of operations (AO) included Now Zad, Salaam Bazaar, Karamanda, Kunjak, Musa Qala, and the Musa Qala Wadi down to Sangin. The battalion took heavy casualties but was able to push out a large portion of the Taliban in the AO and double the size of the AO that they were responsible for. For their exceptional actions, First Battalion Second Marines, along with several attachments were awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation. 1/2 came home in late September 2010 when they were relieved by 1st Battalion 8th Marines.
1/2 deployed again in support of OEF in 2014. Charlie Company manned Patrol Base Boldak and conducted operations in Boldak, Habibibad, Showal, and Mataque, denying the Taliban the ability to conduct attacks on Camp Bastion-Leatherneck during retrograde operations. Bravo company patrolled the surrounding area of the Bastion-Leatherneck complex. Operations conducted in the Central Wadi and Nad-I-Ali were conducted to push back the Talibans ability to conduct attacks on coalition forces until full security responsibility of the area was transferred to the Afghan National Security Forces in October 2014. 1/2 was the last U.S. ground combat unit on Camp Leatherneck, flying out on helicopters hours after control of the base was transferred to ANSF. 10 days after 1/2 turned over security to ANSF the Taliban conducted an attack on the Bastion- Leatherneck Complex[2]
Marines and Sailors with Bravo Company, 1st Bn, 2nd Marines, conduct a security patrol near Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province, Afghanistan, August 23, 2014.