1st Battalion 12th Marines

808-257-3207

1st Battalion 3rd Marines (1/3 Bn)

808-257-2290

2nd Battalion 3rd Marines (2/3 Bn)

808-257-0768 / 2279

3rd Battalion 3rd Marines (3/3 Bn)

808-257-0768 / 2279

The 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines was activated in 1942 and deployed just over a year later to Bougainville where they participated in some of the fiercest battles against the Japanese, including the Battle of Piva Forks. In 1944, the 3rd fought another bloody battle at Chonito Cliffs in Guam where they succeeded in taking the cliffs. The next day, the Japanese attacked the Marines’ command post and Private First Class Luther J. Skaggs Jr. was awarded the battalion’s first Medal of Honor (MOH) for continuing to fight after being seriously wounded in the leg by a Japanese grenade. Although the battalion was ready for action in Iwo Jima and the early Cold War, their involvement was never called upon. In 1965, during Operation Starlite of the Vietnam War, the 3rd took on the Viet Cong at Chu Lai and one of the Marines’ Corporals, Robert E. O’Malley, earned a MOH for killing several enemy fighters while defending his own men after being wounded three times. 1965-67 saw action in Operation Kings and the “Hill fights”, along with plenty of defensive and blocking maneuvers that did not end in major combat until the Tet Offensive in 1968, which left hundreds of the 3rd wounded and over 50 dead. The battalion earned a Navy Unit Commendation for its participation in Operation Taylor Common in 1969 where they worked to destroy the North Vietnamese army base. By the time the battalion was sent back to the U.S. at the end of ‘69, they had participated in more operations (nearly 50) than any other Marine battalion and had lost over 650 men, with nearly 3,000 injured. In 1990, the 3rd deployed to Saudi Arabia where it sat ready to defend its position against the Iraqis, and then, in 1991 at the start of Desert Storm, was integral in helping the Saudis hold the recaptured town of Khafji. Post-Desert Storm the battalion moved around the Pacific for various training exercises. During Operation Enduring Freedom in 2004-5, the 3rd fought the Taliban over 20 times, and later trained Iraqis and protected against insurgents during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006 at a time when attacks against Marines were frequent. They deployed again to Iraq, this time to Fallujah, and fought to hold the city of Karmah, again under frequent attacks. During their time at Al Asad Airbase in 2009 as an Military Police task force (their third Iraq deployment,) the 3rd recovered the remains of Captain Scott Speicher who had been killed in action in 1991 and never found.

3rd Marine Regiment

808-257-1492

The 3rd Marine Regiment, which was started in 1916, participated in Mexico and Dominican Republic campaigns, then in the Dominican during World War I. During WWII, the regiment earned four Medal of Honors for service in Guam and Bougainville, then headed to China to help disassemble Japanese units post-war. The 3rd was also active in nearly 50 operations in the Vietnam War. In the 1990s, the regiment created many firsts upon entering Saudi Arabia during the invasion of Kuwait. Around this time the regiment became known as Task Force Taro (to honor Hawaii) and was soon involved in trading fire with Iraqi forces at the beginning of 1991, the first of any U.S. military unit, and subsequently became the first to lead ground attacks in response. Task Force Taro was also first to enter Kuwait and took the Kuwait International Airport in the war’s first (and only) helicopter assault. Taro would return to MCB Hawaii Kaneohe in 1991 after the war’s end.

3rd Radio Battalion - FMF

808-257-0949

Combat Logistics Battalion 3 (CLB-3)

808-257-1600

Marine Aircraft Group 24 (MAG-24)

808-257-2498

Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC), Camp H.M. Smith

808-477-6377

Pacific Command (PACOM)

808-477-9463

Patrol & Reconnaissance Wing TWO (CPRW-2)

808-257-0509

Patrol & Reconnaissance Wing TWO (CPRW-2)

808-257-0509