The Virginia National Guard is offering up to $750 to Virginia citizens who help grow the force with qualified leads who successfully enlist into the Virginia Army or Air National Guard. The initiative, called the Referral Enlistment Program, or REP, kicks off Sept. 15, 2022.

The Virginia National Guard is a unique dual-status force with a federal mission to provide a combat reserve for the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force to fight our nation’s wars and a state mission to provide a response force that answers the call of the Governor to defend the commonwealth. The VNG traces the history and tradition of Citizen-Soldier service to the founding of Jamestown in 1607, and there has been a military presence defending Virginia ever since.

Staff Sgt. Steven Moniuszko was recognized in front of his unit, the West Point-based 237th Engineer Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group, Oct. 16, 2022, in West Point, Virginia, after graduating from the U.S. Army’s Sapper Leader Course and earning the coveted Sapper Tab.

Virginia National Guard aviation crews and Chesterfield County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Scuba Rescue Team members provided a hoist rescue capability demonstration for emergency managers from across southwestern Virginia Nov. 16, 2022, in Tazewell, Virginia. 

The Virginia Army National Guard’s top recruiters traveled to Bethany Beach, Delaware, Nov. 8-10, 2022, for the opportunity to be named top among their regional peers. At the conclusion of Region II’s Strength Maintenance Advisory Group Conference, Staff Sgt. Sydney Mapp was named the region’s top recruiting noncommissioned officer, or Director’s 54; Master Sgt. Thomas L. Clarke Jr. was named the region’s top section chief, or Expert 7; and Staff Sgt. DeAndre McCall was named runner up for the region’s top rookie.

It takes a considerable amount of work to ensure all of the various training events for the vast array of units and agencies that train on MTC are conducted in a safe manner and that work is the mission of Range Operations.

Virginia and Ohio National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Norfolk-based 1st Battalion, 111th Field Artillery Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, conducted a transfer of authority ceremony Nov. 12, 2022, at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, to officially end their short-range air defense mission for Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve.

Virginia National Guard personnel honored the service and sacrifice of the men and women of the armed forces at ceremonies across Virginia Nov. 11, 2022, in honor of Veterans Day.

The Virginia National Guard’s Lynchburg-based 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team dedicated the command conference room in their armory to Col. Thomas S. Dallas Sr. Nov. 10, 2022.

As the combat reserve of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force and part of Virginia’s multi-agency response capabilities, our team of Soldiers, Airmen, members of the Virginia Defense Force and our state and federal civilians are proud to join fellow Soldiers, Airmen, Marines and Sailors to keep our commonwealth and country safe.

Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia, visited with and commended Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Ammunition Supply Point at Maneuver Training Center Fort Pickett, Virginia, during a visit to the facility Oct. 20, 2022. 

The Virginia National Guard’s 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Headquarters officially ended their mission as Task Force Saint Lo and the mission command headquarters for NATO Kosovo Force Regional Command-East with a transfer of authority ceremony Nov. 2, 2022, at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo.