[3] On 14 June 1942 the battalion traveled by a five-day train journey to San Francisco, with the final destination of Wellington, New Zealand which was not disclosed to personnel at the time.

[4] The sail to New Zealand was on the USAT John Ericsson (NY-307), a former Swedish deluxe cruise liner the S.S. Kungsholms, departing from the Oakland Naval Base.

Following the war they were sent to Tientsin, China in September 1945 as peacekeepers and returned to the United States during June 1947 to Camp Pendleton, California The battalion deployed during August 1950 to Kobe, Japan, joining the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade they were then sent in September 1950 to Inchon, Korea, and joined the 1st Marine Division.

One Marine was lost on the USS Renville while en route to Hawaii due to appendicitis which was misdiagnosed as sea-sickness.

The battalion headquarters and 3 engineer companies were deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 as part of the NATO counterinsurgency offensive in the Helmand Province, to Musa Qal’eh in 2010,[6] and returned again, 2011 and 2013 [1].