The Virginia National Guard’s Staunton-based 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team was the first Army National Guard brigade to test and evaluate an approved task organization for a mobile brigade combat team during their 21-day eXportable Combat Training Capability rotation in June 2025 at Fort Pickett, Virginia.

As the sun rose on the northern coast of France June 6, 2025, a group of 30 U.S. National Guard Soldiers, all assigned to the 29th Infantry Division, organized themselves into a neat formation. The tide was in and, as the Atlantic Ocean lapped against Omaha Beach, a crowd gathered around the Soldiers. The onlookers had come from all over, traveling from nearby French villages and towns, neighboring European nations and, of course, the United States. Everyone there that morning - from the most junior Soldier standing in formation, to the oldest reenactor on the beach - was there to pay tribute to the men who stormed Normandy’s beaches on D-Day.

The remains of U.S. Army Sgt. Ivor D. Thornton, 34, of Martinsville, Virginia, killed during World War II, will be interred Aug. 15 at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

More than 60 children of Virginia National Guard Soldiers and Airmen enjoyed a week of adventure and activities at the 20th annual Virginia National Guard Youth Camp July 26- Aug. 1, 2025, at the State Military Reservation in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

At the Virginia Army National Guard’s 183rd Regiment, Regional Training Institute, the infantry-focused 1st Battalion is putting the “train as you fight” mindset into action. In a first for any National Guard schoolhouse across the 54 states and territories, they ran three military occupational specialty transition courses at once, bringing together Soldiers working toward the 11B Infantryman and 11C Indirect Fire Infantryman MOS for more realistic, integrated training. The culmination of that combined effort took place July 21, 2025, with a combined arms live fire exercise at the Infantry Platoon Battle Course at Fort Pickett, Virginia.

The Virginia National Guard and Virginia Department of Military Affairs cut a ribbon to symbolically open STARBASE Blackstone, The VNG’s second STARBASE Academy location, Aug. 8, 2025, at the VNG’s Blackstone Readiness Center in Blackstone, Virginia. 

The Virginia National Guard is finalizing plans as of Aug. 8, 2025, to mobilize approximately 60 Soldiers and Airmen with a mission to provide administrative and logistics support to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at locations across the state.

Brig. Gen. Christopher J. Samulski took command of the 29th Infantry Division from Maj. Gen. Joseph A. DiNonno Aug. 3, 2025, on the Long Parade Field at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

Virginia National Guard senior leaders along with state and local government officials cut a ribbon to formally open the expanded Roanoke Regional Readiness Center Aug. 2, 2025, in Troutville, Virginia.

The Virginia National Guard will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the expansion of the Roanoke Regional Readiness Center Aug. 2, 2025, in Troutville, Virginia.

Approximately 40 Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Cedar Bluff-based 1033rd Engineer Support Company constructed two parking areas, a walking trail and installed a split-rail fence during their annual training July 12-25, 2025, at the Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park in Middletown, Virginia.

Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Petersburg-based 276th Engineer Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group conducted a Plus One Day with their loved ones July 18, 2025, at Fort Pickett, Virginia, during the unit’s annual training.