Upon completion of contractor training, 1st RPV Platoon accepted its first two Mastiff air vehicles, control stations, and associated ground support equipment.

In June 1986, 1st RPV Platoon was assigned to the 13th Marine Amphibious Unit and embarked aboard USS Tarawa for operations in the Western Pacific.

In October 1986, the 1st RPV Platoon was reorganized and re-designated as the 2nd Remotely Piloted Vehicle Company, Headquarters Battalion, 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, NC while deployed with the 13th MAU.

During May 1987, 2d RPV Company was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for its numerous contributions to the fielding of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles within the Marine Corps.

During the next three years, the 2d RPV Company trained on the Pioneer system and deployed within the continental United States in support of several Marine Corps exercises.

As the first UAV unit to field this upgrade, the company embarked aboard the USS Nassau and conducted the first shipboard trial operations of the Pioneer Option II air vehicle.

In August 1990, the 2d RPV Company was reassigned to the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (4th MEB) and embarked to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Desert Shield.

During this deployment, the Night Owls integrated the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle UAV into operations along the Euphrates River Valley, more than doubling total aerial reconnaissance coverage for the MEF to over 5,600 hours.

In April 2009, VMU-2 sent Marines to both Iraq and Afghanistan to support the "Overseas Contingency Operation" while conducting flight ops with both the Shadow and ScanEagle systems.

Throughout the spring and summer of 2011 the squadron continued conducting flight operations in Eastern North Carolina in preparation for domestic training exercises.

In January 2012, VMU-2 was, once again, preparing for another deployment and was conducting unit level training and completing Alternate Mission Rehearsal Exercise while supporting Enhanced Mojave Viper from 29 Palms, CA.

During this deployment VMU-2 conducted multiple missions utilizing RQ-7B Shadow, ScanEagle, and the Cargo Resupply Unmanned Aerial System (CRUAS) using the Kaman K-MAX helicopter.

The squadron employed the K-MAX as a support asset to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Forces throughout Southern Afghanistan by delivering and retrograding over 900,000 pounds of supplies and equipment.

Again, in November 2013, the Night Owls deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan conducting operations through the utilization of the hub and spoke concept from both Camps Leatherneck and Dwyer.

[6] During this deployment the squadron flew upwards of 120 combat sorties involving nearly 1,000 flight hours while under the command of Marine Aircraft Group Afghanistan | MAG A.

VMU-2 completed divestment of its Shadow systems in 2016.Between 2015 and 2021, VMU-2 supplied RQ-21A detachments to the 22nd, 24th, and 26th Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs) where they conducted flight operations from San Antonio-class ships, providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) support.

Tests and meetings throughout the early part of the year brought to life the movement of VMU-2 into a Marine Aircraft Group 14, setting the standard for the rest of the community.

As a result, agencies like the Civil Air Patrol, the US Army, and NASA developed a standard of operations as a proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).