Virginia National Guard

06/19/2026

Governor of Virginia Abigail Spanberger and Virginia National Guard senior leaders welcome home more than 50 Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Hanover-based 229th Military Police Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group after a year-long overseas mobilization June 19, 2026, in Sandston, Virginia. Retired Col. Lesley Kipling, Deputy Virginia Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, Maj. Gen. James W. Ring, the Adjutant General of Virginia, Brig. Gen. Charles Martin Jr., Virginia National Guard Land Component Commander, and Col. Alyssa Astphan, commander of the 329th RSG, all greeted the Soldiers as they returned from their demobilization station at Fort Bliss, Texas.

Read more about the 229th’s deployment at https://vngpao.info/2p8n8jzs.

06/18/2026

“The Razorback Range gives us unmatched flexibility for multi-aircraft training,” said Col. Jonathan Esparza, commander of the 188th Wing. “Its capabilities allow us to host complex, realistic scenarios that build interoperability and readiness for our U.S. and international partners.”

EBBING AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Ark. – Two F-22 Raptors from the Virginia Air National Guard’s 149th Fighter Squadron touched down at Ebbing Air National Guard Base June 16 for a joint-training

06/17/2026

Gen. Christopher C. LaNeve, acting Chief of Staff of the Army, and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael R. Weimer, the 17th Sergeant Major of the Army, visit Virginia Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Staunton-based 116th Mobile Brigade Combat Team during a training rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, June 16, 2026. The visit provided Army senior leaders an opportunity to observe training operations and engage with Soldiers conducting realistic, large-scale combat training.

The 116th is the first Army National Guard brigade to participate in a JRTC rotation as a mobile brigade combat team after formally making the transformation from an infantry brigade combat team in 2025. JRTC provides U.S. military units and personnel with complex and realistic combat training, including joint and combined-arms operations, force-on-force scenarios and live-fire exercises.

06/17/2026

Welcome home!

Maj. Gen. James W. Ring, the Adjutant General of Virginia, and Chief Master Sgt. John F. Nye, the Virginia National Guard’s senior enlisted leader, greet VNG Soldiers assigned to the Hanover-based 229th Military Police Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group June 16, 2026, at Fort Bliss, Texas. Approximately 130 Soldiers are back in the United States after a federal active duty deployment to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. The unit began their federal active duty during a ceremony in June 2025.

During their deployment, the 229th’s Soldiers conducted customs clearance operations as their primary mission. After the outset of Operation Epic Fury in February, the unit shifted gears to provide law enforcement support at a military installation in Jordan.

Read more about the mobilization at https://vngpao.info/2p8n8jzs.

06/16/2026

Congratulations to Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Davis as he takes responsibility as the senior enlisted leader of 2-224th Aviation!

See more photos here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCWLTx

06/15/2026

What we saw this weekend was exactly what our nation expects from the Army National Guard: disciplined Soldiers, tough training, and a team committed to winning on tomorrow’s battlefield!

CSM Kendrick and I visited the Soldiers of the 116th MBCT during their JRTC rotation and got a firsthand look at the grit, professionalism, and determination driving their success. Thank you to MG Ring, the leadership team, and the Soldiers of the Virginia National Guard for the outstanding work they are doing every day to build and sustain combat-ready formations!

Ready For Combat! This We'll Defend!

06/15/2026

Senior Army National Guard and Virginia National Guard leaders visited Soldiers from the Staunton-based 116th MBCT June 13, 2026, during their Joint Readiness Training Center rotation at Fort Polk, Louisiana, getting a firsthand look at the training, grit and hard work happening in the field.

Lt. Gen. Jonathan Stubbs and Command Sgt. Maj. James B. Kendrick, the Director and Sergeant Major of the Army National Guard, joined Maj. Gen. James W. Ring, the Adjutant General of Virginia, and other senior leaders to observe training and connect with VNG Soldiers as they continue sharpening readiness in one of the Army’s premier training environments.

See more photos here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCWFJZ

06/12/2026

Congratulations to seven of the Virginia Army National Guard’s senior noncommissioned officers for graduating from the Sergeants Major Academy at Fort Bliss, Texas, in 2026. These seven leaders started the nonresident course back in 2024, completing 17 months of training before completing a two-week resident phase at Fort Bliss:

-Sgt. Maj. Jobie Eley
-1st Sgt. James Perry
-1st Sgt. Robert Vaught (Commandant’s List graduate)
-Master Sgt. Wesley Heims (Commandant’s List graduate)
-Command Sgt. Maj. Gregory Goldstein
-1st Sgt. Recardo Faulkner
-1st Sgt. Joseph Buckner

“The purpose of this course is to provide the Army with agile and adaptive senior enlisted leaders, who embody the principles of the Profession of Arms,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Hawley, the VaARNG’s command sergeant major.

06/11/2026

Virginia Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 29th Infantry Division supported a commemoration ceremony June 6 at the National Guard Monument on Omaha Beach, honoring U.S. National Guard Soldiers and members of the British Royal Air Force during events marking the 82nd anniversary of D-Day.

During the ceremony, Sgt. 1st Class Justin Assenat, assigned to the 29th ID and the grandson of D-Day veteran Sgt. William Raymond Hurd, laid a wreath in honor of those who served and sacrificed. Hurd, assigned to Company D, 116th Infantry Regiment, was among the first waves of Soldiers to land on Omaha Beach during the D-Day landings June 6, 1944.

More than 600 U.S. service members, including 30 from the 29th ID, were in Normandy last week supporting more than 95 D-Day commemoration events across the region.

06/10/2026

82 years later, the legacy of the 116th Infantry Regiment continues.