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 Infantry 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 Infantry 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

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Craig Crenshaw, the Virginia Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, and Maj. Gen. James W. Ring, the Adjutant General of Virginia, along with other state government officials and Virginia National Guard and community leaders, ceremonially break ground on a new Army Aviation Support Facility March 31, 2025, in Sandston, Virginia. The first stage of a five-stage project will build half of the approximately 11,000-square-foot helicopter parking space for the VNG’s UH-60 Black Hawk and UH-72 Lakota helicopters, as well as a hangar and operations building. The current VNG AASF is adjacent to the Richmond International Airport, and the lease expires in 2032. The Troutville-based 29th Infantry Division Band provided ceremonial music for the event, and volunteers with the Virginia Defense Force provided traffic control support.
VNG breaks ground on new Army Aviation Support Facility 
April 7, 2025
The Virginia National Guard ceremonially broke ground on the first in a series of projects to construct a new Army National Guard Aviation Support Facility March 31, 2025, in Sandston, Virginia.
Pfc. Nicholas Warren and Sgt. Ivo Garner are named the Virginia Army National Guard’s Soldier and Noncommissioned Officer of the Year during a ceremony following the VaARNG Best Warrior Competition March 16, 2025, at Fort Barfoot, Virginia. Warren, assigned to the Rocky Mount-based 229th Chemical Company, 1030th Transportation Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group, and Garner, assigned to the Lynchburg-based Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, will represent Virginia at the Region II BWC later this year. Warren and Garner outlasted their competition over four days of events designed to test their Soldier skills, strength, endurance, marksmanship and knowledge. More photos from the event can be found at https://vngpao.info/ywy9vzfc.
329th RSG’s Warren, 116th IBCT’s Garner tops at Best Warrior Competition
March 21, 2025
Virginia Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 329th Regional Support Group and the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team took top honors at the 2025 VaARNG Best Warrior Competition March 13-16, 2025, at Fort Barfoot, Virginia. 
Fort Barfoot Fire and Emergency Services personnel manage a prescribed burn along with the staff from Natural Resources Division of the Fort Barfoot Department of Public Works March 12, 2025, at Fort Barfoot, Virginia. The prescribed burn helped to support military training by reducing fuel loads in the area, thereby lessening the risk for dangerous and intense wildfires that can be caused by incendiary devices and lead to training downtime. Other objectives of the burn were to improve wildlife habitat and timber stand improvement in forest management areas. Virginia National Guard aviation crews also conducted aerial fire suppression training during the burn - view photos at https://vngpao.info/3bnjy5f4.
VNG aviation crews train on fire suppression during Fort Barfoot prescribed burn
March 17, 2025
Virginia National Guard aviation crews assigned to the Sandston-based 2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment, 29th Infantry Division trained on aerial fire suppression with UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters equipped with water buckets March 12, 2025, during a prescribed burn at Fort Barfoot, Virginia.
Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy M. Hawley takes responsibility as the Virginia Army National Guard State Command Sergeant Major from Command Sgt. Maj. Irving N. Reed Jr. during a ceremony March 1, 2025, at the Virginia National Guard Sgt. Bob Slaughter Headquarters at Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia. Brig. Gen. Charles B. Martin Jr. , Commander of the Virginia Army National Guard, presided over the ceremony which included an exchange of colors representing the change of responsibility from Reed to Hawley. Reed was also recognized for retiring with more than 38 years of service. The Troutville-based 29th Infantry Division Band provided music for the event. Read more about Hawley at https://vngpao.info/3h6tvbvc and Reed at https://vngpao.info/yc5z3tmz.
Hawley takes responsibility as VaARNG senior enlisted leader
March 7, 2025
Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy M. Hawley took responsibility as the Virginia Army National Guard State Command Sergeant Major from Command Sgt. Maj. Irving N. Reed Jr. during a ceremony March 1, 2025, at the Virginia National Guard Sgt. Bob Slaughter Headquarters at Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia.
Virginia National Guard Soldiers and Airmen conducted an exchange with the Republic of Tajikistan focusing on noncommissioned officer and junior officer development Feb. 17-21, 2025, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The exchange was conducted in support of the Department of Defense‘s State Partnership program, in which Virginia and Tajikistan have been partners since 2003.
VNG conducts officer and NCO development exchange in Tajikistan
Feb. 25, 2025
Virginia National Guard Soldiers and Airmen conducted an exchange with the Republic of Tajikistan focusing on noncommissioned officer and junior officer development Feb. 17-21, 2025, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

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 Infantry Brigade Combat Team