returned home April 20, 2009, to Eastover, S.C. This record was later broken and nearly doubled by Company E from Syracuse, NY during their 2009 deployment along the Syrian border, north of the Sinjar mountains. It remains the longest continuous period spent on non-stop operations during the Iraq war. In September 2009, the unit mobilized for deployment in Afghanistan. H&S, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and a handful of Marines from Delta and Fox were activated, and trained for a six-month deployment schedule of November 2009 to May 2010. They returned home on May 30, 2010. In July 2014, the Battalion completed their largest training exercise in years in the Mojave Desert. This was the first time since the battalion’s deployment to Afghanistan in 2009 – 2010 that all the companies, with the exception of Company A, were able to train together. The large training area gave the Marines a chance to use all of the weaponry available on the LAVs and the chance to use the Mine Clearing Lane Charge. Additionally, the Marines had a chance to fire the M242 Bushmaster chain gun, the M240 machine gun and anti-tank guided missiles. Marines also fired a MICLIC, which consists of a rocket tethered to thousands of pounds of C-4 explosives from an LAV. The MICLIC clears out mines and any obstacles, and gives the LAVs a safe and clear path to travel through. The Marines also fired an Anti-Personal Obstacle Breaching System (APOBS) that consists of two backpacks that fire a smaller rocket with tethered grenades that makes a safe path for Marines. In addition to the firepower on the LAVs, the scouts had a chance to engage the enemy in live-fire exercises with the M4 Service Rifle, M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle and M136 AT4 Rocket Launcher. Unit Awards Meritorious Unit Commendation Desert Shield/Storm 1990-1991 Presidential Unit Citation W 1/ bronze star Iraq-2003 Afghanistan-2009-2010 (MEB-PUC) Navy Unit Commendation W/2 bronze stars Iraq - 2006 Iraq - 2007 II MEF FWD (MARADMIN 055/12) Iraq - 2008 I MEF FWD (MARADMIN 056/12) National Defense Service Streamer W/1 bronze star Afghanistan Campaign Streamer W/1 Campaign Star Iraq Campaign Streamer W/4 Campaign Stars Global War on Terrorism Service Streamer Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Streamer Nato ISAF Streamer See also List of United States Marine Corps battalions (including equipment) Organization of the United States Marine Corps Notes References https://web.archive.org/web/20110708133734/http://www.chandlerswatch.com/tag/chandlers-watch/page/20/ "Operation Sea Angel: A Case Study", Paul