3rd LAAD Battalion experienced its first real-world test when a detachment deployed aboard the USS Okinawa (LPH-3) on 8 October 1987 as part of Contingency Marine Air Ground Task Force (CMAGTF) 1-88.

During the 1990s, LAAD Battalions began acquiring several new weapon systems to augment dismounted Marines carrying the Stinger missile on their shoulders.

Ultimately, the decision was made to purchase the LAV-AD due to table of organization structure availability, the current threat to the MAGTF, and the probable loss of the Marine Corps' HAWK Battalions.

The Avenger provided Marine Corps air defenders with new capabilities in a lightweight, day/night, limited adverse weather fire unit for countering the threat of low altitude, high-speed fixed-wing or rotary wing aircraft.

The firing unit incorporated two Standard Vehicle-Mounted Launcher (SVML) missile pods, a .50 caliber machine gun, Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR), Laser Range Finder (LRF), and IFF capability.

In 2005, I MEF designated 3rd LAAD Bn as the Fleet Sponsor for the Complementary Low Altitude Weapon System (CLAWS).

In September 1994, A Battery conducted anti-narcotic operations in Gallup, New Mexico with local law enforcement agencies and Joint Task Force 6 aboard the Zuni Indian Reservation.

On 10 Oct 1994, the Battalion planned to immediately deploy to Saudi Arabia after receiving a Southwest Asia Contingency Alert in response to the Iraqi military buildup along the Kuwaiti border.

By the end of January, the Offload Preparation Party and Arrival and Assembly Operations Element departed Camp Pendleton bound for Kuwait.

By 13 February, the battalion consolidated at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait and dedicated its time to training and preparing for crossing the border into Iraq.

On 24 Feb, the battalion departed Ali Al Salem for Camp Work Horse located in Tactical Assembly Area Coyote.

Prior to 21 March 2003, when Operation IRAQI FREEDOM began, the Defended Asset List experienced a variety of changes and forced 3d LAAD Bn Marines to plan dynamically.

The mission was to defend logistics convoys loaded with aviation fuel and ordnance that would be staged at FARPS along I MEF's path into Northern Iraq.

3d LAAD Bn was called on again in September 2007 to provide air base ground defense for Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM.

Most recently, 3d LAAD Bn provided ground security for Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, from February to September 2010 in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM.

3rd LAAD Bn began training to provide Air Base Ground Defense for the Bastion/Leatherneck/Shorebak (BLS) Complex in Afghanistan's Helmand Province in the summer of 2009.

The battalion was certified by instructors from Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 and the School of Infantry – West to conduct Military Entry Point (MEP), Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP), mounted and dismounted patrol, IED sweep, and autonomous counterinsurgency (COIN) operations in January 2010.

Due to the efforts of Marines and Sailors of 3rd LAAD Bn, the BLS Complex did not experience any attacks by insurgent forces while the Battalion was deployed in support of OEF 10.1.