Upon formation, the new battalion perpetuated the history of the marine scout companies that had served in the Pacific during World War II.

He and his recon-scout platoon raced ahead of the first wave in two Higgins Boats and landed on the pier where they were placed under heavy machine gun fire.

Since there were petrol drums at the end of the pier in the line of enemy fire, Hawkins sent most of his Marines back down the ramp then proceeded with only five men, four scouts and one combat engineer with a flamethrower.

[5] Another Scout-Sniper Platoon from the 8th Marines assisted in the main assault landing on D-Day, while the Company D (Scouts), 2nd Tank Battalion worked extensively in the seizure and occupation of other islands in the Tarawa Atoll.

[citation needed] A very loose interpretation of the battalion was featured as the main unit in the 1986 movie Heartbreak Ridge starring Clint Eastwood.

[citation needed] A 2017 autobiographical short-story collection, titled No Joy, depicts life in the battalion from late 2003 to mid 2006.