2001's annual training exercise took place in Oman (Ex Saif Sareea), setting the tone for more than a decade of operational activity by the squadron in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Fourteen personnel mobilised for service in Afghanistan with 3 Cdo Bde RM the following year (Op Jacana). The squadron was compulsorily mobilised in January 2003 and deployed in Iraq as part of Operation TELIC 1, returning to the UK in May. A significant proportion of the unit was mobilised for a second time in Autumn 2006 for service in Helmand Province in Afghanistan. Following the end of this deployment in Spring 2007, the squadron has supported a further nine tours of the province. Tasks and responsibilities were wide and varied as befits the extensive range of skills held within the unit, ranging from reconstruction advice through to close support engineering by sections embedded within Royal Marines rifle companies. Small teams also deployed to Iraq on Operation TELIC 4 in 2004/5 and to the Bagh region of Pakistan during humanitarian operations (Op Maturin) following the Kashmir earthquake in 2005.
