Following the war, the battalion stood occupation duty in Kagoshima, Japan until February 1946 when they redeployed to Camp Pendleton, California.

The battalion again deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from September 1967 through January 1968, to augment the Marine Barracks there in manning outposts along the base's 17-mile-long (27 km) fence line.

In 2003, 3/2 deployed to Kuwait as part of Task Force Tarawa and, beginning in March, supported Operation Iraqi Freedom.

While en route back to the United States on 12 June 2003, 3rd Battalion 2nd Marines (3/2) while aboard USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) was deployed in support of Operation Shining Express to support the rescue of U.S. embassy personnel and American citizens during the Second Liberian Civil War.

They conducted security and stabilization operations in the Al Anbar Province in the city of Habbaniyah until mid February 2007.

During this deployment the battalion suffered a few casualties, and had a widespread area of operation along the Syrian border and Euphrates river.