The seven-month deployment, Gates said, was "one time" only.
The last-minute move meant the Marines were not accompanied by their usual combat weaponry and gear: heavy artillery, tanks, aircraft, a full-scale supply system and a full reconnaissance unit.
Like the Army, the Marine Corps was already stretched thin on equipment and manpower. The Two-Seven's basic mission -- mentoring the Afghan national police in sprawling Helmand -- was not expected to involve continuous combat.
But the Marines were repeatedly attacked as they established forward bases in the region and began to make contact with local villagers. Before long, the fighting overshadowed the mentoring. Though they had expected to be tested by the Taliban in an area where much of the poppy crop that funds the insurgents is grown, they had not anticipated the intensity of the conflict.
For six months, the Two-Seven had more members killed and wounded -- about 150 -- than did the 20,000 Marines deployed in Iraq. It also did its share of killing.
A Marine sniper killed 12 insurgents in one battle alone, and since arriving in Afghanistan has killed 28, Marine officials said.
"Our guys were running and gunning so fast that the up-tempo was crushing," said Lt. Col. Rick Hall, the battalion commander.
Because of the ferocity of the fighting, Marine officials began providing helicopters and other supplies needed by the Two-Seven. The choppers were transferred from Iraq.
Meanwhile, the efforts to recruit and train Afghan police officers were beset by corruption and narcotics. In one class of 100 recruits, 35 were dismissed because of drug use. Some recruits showed up for training with the red-rimmed eyes of chronic hashish users, Hall said.
The battalion also faced a manpower shortage in mid-deployment as 150 members neared the end of their active-duty stints. An urgent call went out corpswide for volunteers, and more than 300 Marines stateside stepped forward. About 140 were accepted.
"Not a day goes by when I don't mention the warriors of Two-Seven and the great things they're doing," Sgt. Major Randall Carter, top enlisted man at the 1st Marine Division, told Marines at Delaram. "You've been out here alone and unafraid."
Over the summer, Gates ordered the latest deployment lengthened by a month.
Maj. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, commander of the 1st Marine Division, said Marines, in effect, were starting over in Afghanistan after being the lead U.S. conventional force in toppling the Taliban regime in 2001.
