tour. The unit continued to serve with distinction while engaging insurgent forces in Iraq. Tragically, four scout snipers from 2/4 were killed on a roof top on 21 June 20. While insurgents stole a sniper rifle, it was later recovered by fellow 5th Marines battalion, 3/5, during a mission in Habbaniyah in 2006. 2/4 returned to Camp Pendleton in October 2004. The battalion then served as part of the Unit Deployment Program tour in Okinawa, mainland Japan, and the Philippines from April to December 2005 with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and in early 2006 they were designated the Battalion Landing Team for the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The battalion arrived in Iraq again as part of the 15th MEU in November 2006. During which Fox and Echo company conducted operations in Ar Ramadi, while the BLT main body operated out of Haditha. Tragically, in February 2007, Battalion Sergeant Major Joseph Ellis was falsely reported to have been killed in a helicopter crash that occurred northwest of Baghdad. He was actually killed by a suicide bomber at a checkpoint. From January to July 2008, 2/4 deployed to Okinawa, Japan, as the Battalion Landing Team for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. BLT 2/4 spent time in the Philippines for Balikatan 2008, while Fox Company conducted training exercises in Indonesia. In May 2008, the 31st MEU supported Operation Response off the coast of Burma, due to the Cyclone Nargis making landfall in the Irrawaddy Delta. BLT 2/4 deployed in September 2009 as the Battalion Landing Team for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The BLT completed training exercises simultaneously with indigenous forces in both East Timor and Indonesia. When not in the jungle training, Marines off the USS Cleveland and USS Rushmore conducted live fire and maneuver training and Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) with the KORMARS (Indonesian Marines). Additionally, the BLT conducted Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) and a patrolling package with the Australian Army. In May 2010, Echo and Fox Company deployed as reduced infantry companies to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, engaging in combat operations in Marjah and Sangin respectively. In September 2011, the battalion deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, as part of Regimental Combat Team 6 (RCT-6), assuming responsibility for the districts of Now Zad and Musa Qal'ah. Golf company freed a village from a Taliban stranglehold, allowing villagers