9th Communication Battalion (9th Comm) is a

communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

battalion in 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 ...

. It is part of the

I Marine Expeditionary Force The I Marine Expeditionary Force ("I" pronounced "One") is a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) of the United States Marine Corps primarily composed of the 1st Marine Division, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and 1st Marine Logistics Group. It i ...

(I MEF) and is headquartered at

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by O ...

, California.

Subordinate units

Headquarters Company In United States Army units, a headquarters and headquarters company (HHC) is a company-sized military unit, found at the battalion level and higher. Considered one unit, a Headquarters and Headquarters Company is essentially two elements within ...

* Service Company * Alpha Company * Bravo Company * Charlie Company * Defensive Cyber Operations Internal Defensive Measures Company

History

Early years

9th Communication Battalion was activated 1 June 1966 at the

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC), also known as 29 Palms, is the largest United States Marine Corps base. The base covers a total area of 1,102 square miles. It was a census-designated place (CDP) officially known as Twentynin ...

, California. They were assigned to Force Troops, Fleet Marine Force Pacific in July 1967. The unit was reduced to zero strength and deactivated 15 October 1974. The Communication Support Company was activated 16 October 1974 but was quickly deactivated on 30 November 1976. It was again activated on 1 December 1976 as Communication Support Company, (Reinforced), 9th Communication Battalion at 29 Palms and assigned to Force Troops, FMF, Pacific. On 15 February 1979, Force Troops was deactivated and the battalion was assigned to Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC), 29 Palms.

1980s & 1990s

1 December 1982: Communication Company (Reinforced), 9th Communication Battalion redesignated at Camp Pendleton, California, as the 9th Communication Battalion, Fleet Marine Force
January 1984: Reassigned to I Marine Amphibious Force
5 February 1988: I Marine Amphibious Force redesignated as I Marine Expeditionary Force
July 1989: Reassigned to 1st Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Intelligence Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force
August 1990-March 1991: Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Southwest Asia
December 1992-April 1993: Operation Restore Hope, Somalia
Reassigned during June 1998 to I Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group

Global War on Terror

9th Comm has made four, year long deployments 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 ...

OIF. They deployed to

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 ...

in late 2002 and subsequently took part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. After that they have spent year long deployments for OIF during 2004, 2006 and 2008. 9th Comm has also participated in multiple deployments in support of

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

OEF. Their cumulative deployments saw the installation, operation, and maintenance of the largest enterprise network ever established by a Marine Corps unit aboard

Camp Leatherneck Camp Leatherneck was a 1,600 acre United States Marine Corps base in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The site was mostly in Washir District and was conjoined with Camp Bastion, which was the main British military base in Afghanistan and Camp S ...

. During this time, Camp Leatherneck and surrounding areas saw significant upgrades in telecommunications infrastructure as well as an increase in the availability of commercialized network services to support all base personnel. 9th Comm's presence on Camp Leatherneck lasted until the end of operations in October 2014 when the camp was turned over to Afghan control.

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. 9th Comm has been presented with the following awards:

References

External links

9th Comm's official website
Comm9 {{USMC-stub