The 2nd Tank Battalion (2nd Tanks) was an armored battalion of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

which was based out of the

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune ( or ) is a United States Armed Forces, United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for Amphibious warfare, amphibious assault training, an ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. It fell under the command of the

2nd Marine Division The 2nd Marine Division (2nd MARDIV) is a division of the United States Marine Corps, which forms the ground combat element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF). The division is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina a ...

and the

II Marine Expeditionary Force The II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force consisting of ground, air and logistics forces capable of projecting offensive combat power ashore while sustaining itself in combat without external assistance for a ...

. Beginning in 2020 the

deactivated all its tank battalions in order to conform to its 2030 modernization plan. The 2nd Tank Battalion was deactivated on May 5, 2021, after 79 years of service.

History

World War II

The battalion formed on December 20, 1941, at Camp Elliott,

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, growing to the standard organization with a headquarters, service and four letter companies (Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog). Baker Company deployed to

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

in January and Charlie Company sailed with the 2nd Marine Regiment to the Solomon Islands. On August 8, 1942, two M3 tanks participated in seizing Tanambogo Island against heavy resistance. 2nd Tanks participated in every action of the 2nd Marine Division to include the

Battle of Tarawa The Battle of Tarawa was fought on 20–23 November 1943 between the United States and Japan on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Am ...

Battle of Saipan The Battle of Saipan was an amphibious assault launched by the United States against the Empire of Japan during the Pacific War, Pacific campaign of World War II between 15 June and 9 July 1944. The initial invasion triggered the Battle of the ...

and

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa Island, Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, Impe ...

. After a brief tour with the Japan occupation force, the battalion returned to its permanent garrison at MCB Camp Lejeune.

Korean War

With the coming of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, most of the battalion's personnel immediately augmented the

1st Tank Battalion The 1st Tank Battalion was an armor battalion of the United States Marine Corps which was based out of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California. It last fell under the command of the 1st Marine Division and I Marin ...

. It also provided the cadre for the 8th Tank Battalion, a wartime expansion force battalion. Garrison duty on the East Coast of the US involved support to routine deployments in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. 2nd Tank Battalion units became involved in two interventions in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

deployment, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

and the Guantanamo Base defense effort.

Vietnam & Post-war years

The

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

again caused the battalion to provide replacements for the tank battalions deployed there. After the Vietnam War, peacetime deployments swelled with participation in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

exercises. Units of the battalion also saw brief combat in the

invasion of Grenada The United States and a Caribbean Peace Force, coalition of Caribbean countries invaded the small island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela, at dawn on 25 October 1983. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, it resulted in m ...

Gulf War

The battalion as a whole saw its first combat since the Second World War in 1991, as it moved with the 2nd Marine Division to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

for the liberation of

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

. Augmented by companies of the

4th Tank Battalion 4th Tank Battalion (4th Tanks) was an armored battalion of the United States Marine Corps Reserve. Their primary weapon system was the M1 Abrams, M1A1 Abrams main battle tank and they were part of the 4th Marine Division and Marine Forces Reserve. ...

, 2nd Tanks served as the division reserve for the four-day war in Kuwait.

Iraq War

The opening of 2003 found 2nd Tank Battalion preparing for deployment to Kuwait in support of

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

. Led by Lt Col Michael J. Oehl they deployed under the operational control of the

1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine (military), Marine Division (military), division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine E ...

and were attached to Regimental Combat Team 5 (RCT-5) upon arrival in theater. On March 20, 2nd Tank Battalion led RCT-5 and 1st Marine Division across the southern Iraqi border, initiating an attack that would ultimately result in the seizure of the Iraqi capital of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and the destruction of the

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

regime. 2nd Tank Battalion fought numerous engagements in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, to include battles in An Numaniyah, Al Aziziyah, and eastern

. Following the seizure of Baghdad, Company D and the AT-TOW Platoon supported Task Force Tripoli and their movement into

Tikrit Tikrit ( ) is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. In 2012, it had a population of approximately 160,000. Originally created as a f ...

. Upon the cessation of combat operations, 2nd Tank Battalion participated in humanitarian operations in Baghdad. The battalion redeployed to MCB Camp Lejeune on May 29, 2003. In November 2004 while deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom 2-2, Company C attached to Regimental Combat Team 1 (RCT-1), 1st Marine Division and Company A attached to Regimental Combat Team 7 (RCT-7), 1st Marine Division participated by assisting in portions of

Operation Phantom Fury The Second Battle of Fallujah, initially codenamed Operation Phantom Fury, Operation al-Fajr (, ) was an American-led offensive of the Iraq War that began on 7 November 2004 and lasted about six weeks. A joint military effort of the United ...

, the recapture of Fallujah.

Afghanistan War

In December 2009, 2nd Tank Battalion deployed to Helmand Province for their inaugural deployment to Afghanistan as part of the surge. They remained in Afghanistan until 2013 as a result of the U.S. forces drawdown.

Unit awards

A unit citation or commendation is an award bestowed upon an organization for the action cited. Members of the unit who participated in said actions are allowed to wear on their uniforms the awarded unit citation. 2nd Tanks has been presented with the following awards: Trident Juncture 2018 181103-N-FO714-071

Trident Juncture 2018 181103-N-FO714-071

Notes

References

: ;Bibliography * ;Web
2nd Tank Battalion official website
{{2ndMarDiv Tank 2 Military units and formations disestablished in 2021