29th Infantry Division

Known as the Blue and Gray Division, the 29th Infantry Division is an Army National Guard operational-level headquarters located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Its origins date back to World War I and is most known for its participation in the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach in World War II. The 29th ID wartime mission is to provide mission command to subordinate brigades and forces tailored for an assigned mission. It is one of eight divisions in the Army National Guard.

The Virginia Army National Guard's 116th Mobile Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment and the 29th Infantry Division Band are aligned under the 29th.

The 29th Infantry Division exercises training and readiness oversight over the 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team from Florida and Alabama, the 116th Mobile Brigade Combat Team from Kentucky and Virginia, the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team from North Carolina and West Virginia, the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade from Maryland and Virginia, the 226th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from Alabama, the 113th Sustainment Brigade from North Carolina and the 142nd Fires Brigade from Arkansas.

The Fort Belvoir-based 29th Infantry Division Headquarters returned to the United States in March 2022 after a 9-month deployment to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility as the headquarters of Task Force Spartan, which exercises command and control of Operation Spartan Shield. Task Force Spartan is a unique, multi-component, total Army organization, made up of active Army, National Guard, and Army Reserve support units and is led by a National Guard division headquarters on a rotational basis. 

In its role as Task Force Spartan, the 29th ID commanded two brigades and four battalion-level task forces. Units supporting Operation Spartan Shield provide capabilities such as aviation, logistics, force protection and information management. They also facilitated theater security cooperation activities such as key leader engagements, joint exercises, conferences, symposia, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response planning. Read more about the 29th’s mobilization at https://go.usa.gov/xzw3F. 

Visit the 29th Infantry Division on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/29thID/


2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment
 
The Virginia National Guard's Sandston-based 2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, mobilized as Task Force Pegasus, officially ended its mission in Kosovo during a transfer of authority ceremony Oct. 11, 2022, at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo.

During Task Force Pegasus’ rotation, over 1,700 flight hours and 275 aerial missions were completed, five multinational multi-ship flights, and 14 MedEvac missions, two of which required the use of a hoist and countless hours of training. Read more about Task Force Pegasus at https://ngpa.us/22186. 

More 2-224th news: https://ngpa.us/23176 

29th Division Band

The 29th ID Band received the Superior Unit Award for training excellence during Training Year 2019. 

More 29th Division Band news: https://ngpa.us/23177

29th ID News

Brig. Gen. Dennis Rohler takes the reins as the Virginia National Guard’s Land Component Commander from Brig. Gen. Charles Martin Jr. during a ceremony July 11, 2026, at the VNG Sergeant John Slaughter Headquarters at Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia. Maj. Gen. James W. Ring, the Adjutant General of Virginia, presided over the ceremony and the exchange of organizational colors signifying the transfer of command from Martin, who is retiring after 32 years of VNG service, to Rohler. The 29th Infantry Division band provided ceremonial music for the event.
Rohler promoted, takes command of Virginia Army National Guard 
July 13, 2026
Brig. Gen. Dennis Rohler took the reins as the Virginia National Guard’s Land Component Commander during a ceremony July 11, 2026, at the VNG Sergeant John Slaughter Headquarters at Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia.
The Commonwealth ChalleNGe Youth Academy graduates 40 cadets during a ceremony for Class 64 July 2, 2026, at Green Run High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Retired Army Col. Everton Nevers, Virginia Department of Military Affairs chief of staff, Jen Lanz, director of Commonwealth ChalleNGe, and Jerome Ferrette, the CCYA deputy director, congratulated each of the graduates on completing the five-and-a-half month-long residential portion of the program. Retired Army Col. Angelo Riddick was the guest speaker for the event and the Troutville-based 29th Infantry Division Band provided music for the ceremony. Commonwealth ChalleNGe Youth Academy is the Virginia component of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program. ChalleNGe is a 17-and-a-half-month program that is structured in a military-style environment designed to promote academics, attention to detail, time management, and leadership, while promoting self-esteem, confidence and pride. (U.S. National Guard photo by A.J. Coyne)
ChalleNGe Class 64 graduates 40 cadets
July 13, 2026
The Commonwealth ChalleNGe Youth Academy graduated 40 cadets during a ceremony for Class 64 July 2, 2026, at Green Run High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Retired Army Col. Everton Nevers, Virginia Department of Military Affairs chief of staff, Jen Lanz, director of CCYA, and Jerome Ferrette, the CCYA deputy director, congratulated each of the graduates on completing the five-and-a-half month-long residential portion of the program.
Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Staunton-based 116th Mobile Brigade Combat Team conduct force-on-force and live-fire operations June 15, 2026, during a training rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana. 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.
116th MBCT completes historic JRTC rotation
July 8, 2026
The Virginia National Guard’s Staunton-based 116th Mobile Brigade Combat Team became the first Army National Guard MBCT to test its capabilities at a historic Joint Readiness Training Center rotation May 31 - July 1, 2026, at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
The 29th Infantry Division concluded its 20-day Warfighter Training Exercise, WFX 26-4, June 14, 2026, at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. The division mustered its units from across the nation, including the Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama National Guards.The warfighter exercise was designed to test division staff with challenging problems and obstacles necessary for success in large-scale combat operations. The division staff worked and planned meticulously with multiple subordinate brigades, bringing the division’s multilayered capabilities to bear against a fictional adversary of equivalent size.
29th ID completes successful Warfighter in Pennsylvania
June 22, 2026
The 29th Infantry Division concluded its 20-day Warfighter Training Exercise, WFX 26-4, June 14, 2026, at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. The division mustered its units from across the nation, including the Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama National Guards. 
U.S. Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 29th Infantry Division participate in a ceremony honoring the Bedford Boys June 6, 2026 at Omaha Beach in Vierville-sur-Mer, France. On June 6, 1944, D-Day, 29th ID Soldiers assigned to Alpha Company, 116th Infantry Regiment, from the small community of Bedford, Virginia, were among the first to land on Omaha Beach at 6:30 a.m. That morning on the beach, 19 men from Alpha Company - the Bedford Boys - died, the largest per capita loss suffered by any American town. More than 600 U.S. service members, including 30 from the 29th ID, are in Normandy to commemorate the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings. During the ceremony, Gen. Steven S. Nordhaus, chief of the National Guard Bureau, while Maj. Gen. Joseph A. DiNonno, a former commanding general of the 29th Infantry Division, served as a keynote speaker. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Terra C. Gatti)
29th ID Soldiers honor D-Day legacy across Normandy
June 18, 2026
In the early morning hours of June 6, 2026, the 29th Infantry Division’s blue-and-gray emblem was etched into the sand in the Dog Green Sector of Omaha Beach, marking the ground where the division came ashore 82 years earlier. The tide was out, the morning quiet. As the sun began to rise, 30 U.S. Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 29th Infantry Division fell into formation near the emblem. Around them stood senior military leaders, historical reenactors, French citizens and travelers from around the world, all gathered to honor the Bedford Boys.

29th ID Organization

Fort Belvoir-based 29th Infantry Division
https://www.facebook.com/29thID/
https://twitter.com/29thID

Fort Belvoir-based Headquarters Battalion, 29th Infantry Division
https://www.facebook.com/HHBN29ID

  • Fort Belvoir-based Headquarters and Support Company
  • Fort Belvoir-based Operations Company
  • Cheltenham, Md.- based Signal Company (Maryland National Guard)
  • Laurel, Md.- Intelligence and Sustainment Company (Maryland National Guard)
  • Troutville-based 29th Division Band

Sandston-based 2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment
 https://www.facebook.com/2ndBattalion224thAviation/

  • Sandston-based Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment
  • Sandston-based Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment
  • Sandston-based Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment
  • Sandston-based Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment
  • Chesterfield-based Detachment 2, Company C, 1st Battalion, 169th Aviation Regiment
  • Chesterfield-based Detachment 1, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 151st Aviation Regiment
  • Sandston-based Detachment 2, Bravo Company, 248th Aviation Support Battalion
  • Chesterfield-based Detachment 1, Company C, 2-245th Aviation Regiment 
Staunton-based 116th Mobile Brigade Combat Team