take part in the 50th Anniversary reenactment of the landings at Leyte Gulf. Iraq 2003-2007 During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, 2/7 was stop-moved in Okinawa until the Summer of 2003. The battalion deployed in February 2004 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). They were among the first Marines redeployed to the country after the initial invasion, and lost eight Marines during that deployment. The battalion deployed in support of OIF for the second time from July 2005 to January 2006. They operated in the Al-Anbar Province and suffered 13 Marines killed in action. The battalion was again deployed to Al-Anbar from January to August 2007. During this third Iraq deployment, 2/7 suffered 8 Marines killed in action. Marines from the battalion took part in Operation Vigilant Resolve< and Operation Alljah. Afghanistan 2008, 2012-2013 2/7 deployed to Helmand and Farah Provinces, Afghanistan from April to December 2008. The battalion spearheaded the return of Marines to Afghanistan, and was engaged in heavy combat with insurgent elements throughout their deployment. 2/7 operated from Camp Bastion and bases in Sangin, Gereshk, Musa Qaleh, Now Zad, Delaram, Gulistan, Bakwa and Bala Baluk. Called "the hardest hit battalion in the Corps this year ," in 2008, the battalion suffered 20 men killed and 160 wounded, thirty of which were amputees. Four Marines assigned or attached to the battalion were awarded the Navy Cross for their actions during the 2008 deployment. The battalion deployed to Afghanistan again in the autumn of 2012 into early 2013. Okinawa, Unit Deployment Program, and the 31st MEU, 2009-2011 Following its Afghanistan deployment, 2/7 deployed to Okinawa, Japan in January 2010, for the first time since 2002. The Battalion was the ground combat element for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit from December 2009 – June 2010, and then again from June–December 2011. Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force, Central-Command As of June 2019, the battalion has deployed with the SP-MAGTF as the Ground Combat Element three separate times since late-2014. As the GCE, the unit has deployed to Iraq, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Afghanistan, & Kuwait. Missions have included training with foreign partners, providing base security, isolated-personnel recovery, & crisis response. 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 appropriate ribbon of the awarded