3RD TOUR

The Marines involved in the Haditha massacre were from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division. There are on their third tour in Iraq.

3rd Battalion, 1st Marines deployed to Kuwait in January of 2003 and in March of the year took part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The battalion re-deployed to Camp Pendleton in the summer of 2003, but were deployed back to Iraq in mid-2004 and were based near Fallujah. In November of 2004, it participated in Operation Phantom Fury. The battalion re-deployed back to Iraq in early 2006 and as of March 2006, they are attached to the 7th Marine Regiment in western Iraq and carrying out security and stabilization operations [1].