FORT GREGG-ADAMS, Va. –
Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Virginia Beach-based 529th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group received the Virginia Governor’s National Service Medal in recognition of their federal active-duty service in Poland during a ceremony Feb. 8, 2025, at Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia.
"We’re very proud of the 529th and what they’ve done,” said Brig. Gen. Todd Hubbard, Virginia National Guard Director of the Joint Staff. “Over the last 12 months we’ve briefed the Governor and Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs on what the 529th was doing in Poland. We are very appreciative and very thankful for what you did for the country and for the commonwealth. Thank you and we are very proud of you.”
The 529th, serving as Task Force Cavalier, took responsibility for logistics, maintenance, and supply missions based at Forward Operating Site Karliki, Poland, in March 2024. They oversaw operations and training for more than 550 Soldiers from four different subordinate units from active-duty Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard. They returned to the United States in November 2024.
“You stood shoulder to shoulder with our NATO allies on the Eastern Flank,” Lt. Col. Carlos Maldonado, commander of the 529th, addressed his Soldiers. “Your strength and commitment made that mission a success.”
In addition to the 529th CSSB Headquarters, TF Cavalier also consisted of active U.S. Army transportation and ordnance companies, a transportation company from the U.S. Army Reserve and a transportation company from the Missouri National Guard.
Maldonado said TF Cavalier conducted 261 missions covering more than 260,000 miles, which he said is roughly one round trip to the moon. The task force moved 316 20-foot containers of ammunition, and he said if those were stacked end to end, they would stretch the length of three football fields. They also transported 227,000 gallons of fuel, which he said is enough to power a standard car for about 6.8 million miles or enough to drive around the Earth 270 times.
Created in 2005 by then-Governor Mark R. Warner, the Governor's National Service Medal recognizes the service of the men and women of the Virginia Army and Air National Guard called to active federal duty since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.