2nd laad

The 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion (2nd LAAD), United States Marine Corps, was activated on September 1, 1982, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. The unit’s primary mission was to provide close-in, low altitude, surface-to-air weapons fire to defend Marine air-ground task force assets from enemy air attack. Equipped with the shoulder-launched Stinger missile system, 2nd LAAD played a crucial role in both training exercises and operational deployments, including support for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the early 1990s. The battalion was deactivated on September 28, 2007, as part of the Marine Corps’ force restructuring initiatives.