The 2nd Regiment became part of the 1st Brigade of Marines stationed in the Philippines as a ready force to be committed wherever needed in Far Eastern waters.

Following the collapse of Philippine resistance in the Philippine–American War, the 2nd was given an additional mission of helping carry out United States Navy responsibilities for the military government of Cavite Peninsula and the Subic Bay area.

The Marines of the regiment established garrisons and outposts and continually patrolled their assigned areas to round up the remaining insurgents and to maintain law and order.

In order to execute the regiment's military government responsibilities, officers were appointed to varied special duties such as captains of the ports, district commanders, inspectors of customs, internal revenue collectors, and provost judges and marshals.

A revolution broke out in Cuba in late 1906, and a Marine expeditionary force was dispatched to the island to establish and maintain law and order.

Order was soon restored, and upon the arrival of United States Army troops as occupation forces on 31 October, the 2nd Regiment was disbanded.

That brief encounter resulted in two Medal of Honor (MOH) awards to members of the regiment, Wendell C. Neville and Smedley D. Butler.

This turned into a long occupation during which the regiment carried out extensive patrolling, engaged in numerous sharp firefights, and trained a native constabulary.

[8] The 2nd Marines acted as a pre-landing deception force at both places before coming ashore to join the main attacks.

Among the continuing contingencies were making annual "Med Cruises" as the Sixth Fleet landing force and intermittent forays into the Caribbean.

A rescue team including regimental assets was formed on the spur of the moment to save Americans and other foreign nationals besieged by rebels in Mogadishu, Somalia.

One battalion (2/2) was attached to the 6th Marines to breach the infamous Saddam Line then drive north to seal off Kuwait City.

[11] Regimental Combat Team 2 comprised the nucleus of Task Force Tarawa during the 2003 invasion of Iraq in the initial stage of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

The fighting there was later dubbed "Ambush Alley" and was the most intense urban warfare seen by the Marine Corps since the Battle of Huế in 1968.

[12] Individual battalions of the 2nd Marines have participated in stability and security operations in Iraq and Afghanistan on a seven-month rotating basis.

They were mainly stationed at Al Asad but from March - September 2007 sent a majority of its regiment to Camp Korean Village to assume control there as well.

2nd Marine Regiment returned to Afghanistan from June 2013 to February 2014, serving as the command element at Camp Leatherneck for RC Southwest.