MIDDLETOWN, Va. –
Approximately 40 Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Cedar Bluff-based 1033rd Engineer Support Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group 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. The project was part of the Innovative Readiness Training program where engineers put their military skills to work on community service projects approved by National Guard Bureau.
“This project was an amazing opportunity to train Soldiers for their planned overseas annual training in 2026 and a great way for junior noncommissioned officers and Soldiers to work on a project and for senior NCO's to be able to project manage,” said 1st Lt. Garret Shultz, commander of the 1033rd. “Soldiers love to do their job and create something that benefits local communities. IRT projects represent an innovative way to accomplish training and be a benefit to the local community.”
Soldiers built a 3,850-square-foot parking lot and 1,600 linear feet of walking trail at the Cedar Creek site, and also installed 120 linear feet of split rail fence around the abutment at the old bridge site. At a second location, they constructed a 800-square-foot parking lot.
Shultz said the project benefitted from the extensive construction and engineer experience Soldiers bring from their civilian careers.
Karen Beck-Herzog, the Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park site manager, said VNG support helps the NPS create visitor service infrastructure much more quickly and will allow them to open the parcel to the public for recreation and to learn the history of the area sooner than originally planned. The NPS still needs to develop information and interpretive signage before the area is open to the public, but a soft opening could happen as soon as Fall 2025 she said.
“We were able to do this much more quickly and at a significant cost savings to the National Park Service,” she said. “The Virginia National Guard has been terrific to work with, and they have been very professional. It’s been wonderful.”
The real-world experience for Soldiers supports training on several company-level mission essential tasks required for their federal mission like providing general engineer support for mobility operations, performing construction operations and conducting expeditionary deployment operations. Both the vertical and horizontal construction platoons trained on 22 supporting collective tasks and 27 supporting individual tasks included in the three mission essential tasks.
Planning for the project began in 2024 after the National Park Service received approval for their requested IRT project, and a formal agreement between the VNG and NPS was signed outlining the scope of the project. Only minor changes to the overall plan were required once the project actually began.
“The National Park Service will benefit from the completion of this project because they will be able to showcase this site to the public,” Shultz said. “Visitors to this site will be able to have accessibility to the walking trail and tours at the bridge abutment site, which was a decisive structure in the Battle for Cedar Creek during the Civil War.”
He said he hopes the improvements will encourage the public to get outside and learn more about the history of the Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley.
“A sign is currently being planned for the park service with a tribute to the hard work dedicated by the National Guard,” Shultz said. “This project has great publicity for the recruitment and retention of Soldiers throughout the state that come to visit this site.”
He said all of the material was resourced by NPS, so all the 1033rd had to do was show up and train.
“I think that this project was great in the development of new Soldiers and junior NCOs who have not had an opportunity to lead and project manage,” Shultz said. “In addition, the focus of this project was to use decentralized operations with a couple of project superintendents to complete the work similar to how we will be broken up into teams for future missions.”
The Soldiers convoyed from their home readiness center in Cedar Bluff with their organization transportation resources and set up a base camp at the readiness center in Winchester for lodging and meals.
Virginia National Guard leaders from the state, brigade and battalion level visited Soldiers July 21 and learned more about the project and the park. They thanked Soldiers for their service and presented challenge coins to recognize outstanding duty performance and incurred no additional costs.
“While this project is going to benefit this national park, the skills you have gained will benefit the Army in the future,” said Lt. Col. Andrew Czaplicki during the senior leader visit. “What you do is important, so please continue to build those skills.”
He also encouraged Soldiers to thank their families when they return home from annual training, and he recognized the sacrifice the Soldiers and their families make to support the mission.
~ Read more about IRT at https://vngpao.info/DODIRT
~ Read about IRT projects in Richmond and Stafford County in 2011 at https://vngpao.info/yxaxa83m
~ Read about the national park at https://vngpao.info/2p8ttucw
~ Photos from the job site on Flickr at https://vngpao.info/2p846yve
~ Photos from senior leader visit on Flickr at https://vngpao.info/mr5yvnwu