RICHMOND, Va. –
More than 70 Virginia Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Charlottesville-based Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team supported a Florida National Guard IBCT during their National Training Center rotation July 16 - Aug. 8, 2025, at Fort Irwin, California.
During the rotation, Alpha Company, known as “Outlaw,” filled a line company vacancy within the Florida National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, 53rd IBCT.
“This is a great opportunity to build generational readiness and resilience by tackling some of the toughest and most realistic training in the Army,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Hoffman, commander of 3rd Battalion during the rotation. “Outlaw Company took this challenge head-on, and demonstrated outstanding levels of resiliency and competence. They make us all proud and continue to be tremendous organizational assets.”
A contingent of Finnish Defense Forces personnel also participated in the rotation in support of the Department of Defense’s State Partnership Program, in which the VNG and Finland have been formal partners since 2024. The Finnish forces fully integrated with the 53rd IBCT, acting as a force multiplier. According to Virginia’s SPP director, Lt. Col. Carlos Maldonado, the inclusion of the Finns helped build parter interoperability and readiness, key goals of the SPP and NATO.
During the rotation, several senior leaders including Gen. Steven S. Nordhaus, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Maj. Gen. Joseph DiNonno, then the commander of the 29th Infantry Division, thanked the Soldiers of Outlaw and other participating units for their hard work and perseverance.
During their time “in the box,” the VNG Soldiers conducted multiple technically-challenging maneuvers and live-fire exercises in support of Florida’s units.
“Throughout the course of the exercise, Outlaw fulfilled either decisive operations or shaping operations across an air assault mission, the breach for our battalion's entry to an urban assault, support by fire to destroy and fix an enemy battle position, and two battalion sized defenses: one force on force, and one live-fire exercise,” said Capt. John Cabrera, commander of Alpha Company.
While at NTC in a support role, Outlaw led by example, showcasing their strength, training and ability to operate in conditions both adverse and stressful.
“Outlaw Soldiers performed exemplary through the course of the rotation,” said Cabrera. “We sustained zero real-world heat casualties during August in the Mojave Desert, and the fewest casualties of any company during force on force, a feat which rests squarely on shoulders of noncommissioned officers looking after their Soldiers and enforcing discipline throughout the exercise. Ultimately, 2-124 was the only battalion to be evaluated as having accomplished each mission it was tasked.”
Fort Irwin, located in the Mojave Desert in southern California and notorious for its blistering heat and mountainous, dry, rocky terrain, provided ample challenges to the VaARNG contingent, forcing them to adapt, overcome and excel.
“Fort Irwin provides a premiere training scenario which is catered to mounted unit exercises,” said Cabrera. “The combination of the elements of the desert and the expansive terrain, unforgiving to dismounted units, served as a gauntlet from both a logistical and tactical standpoint.”
Despite the harsh environment, Outlaw shined.
“A few painful lessons learned early on set the stage for Outlaw to re-establish our operational tempo during both planning and execution phases of each mission to ensure risk to mission and risk to Soldiers was mitigated,” Cabrera added.
A big part of the Outlaw success at Fort Irwin was their ability to communicate effectively across a dynamic battlefield.
“Sgt. Gabriel Ro, our company radio telephone operator, performed tremendously,” Cabrera said. “In addition to serving Outlaw, he was a resource relied on by both Battalion and sister Companies assisting in their communications as well.”
First Sgt. Samuel Drewry, Outlaw’s company first sergeant, singled out one of his team leaders for exemplary performance during the rotation.
“Spc. Christian performed very well in a duty position above his pay grade,” said Drewry. “He was a team leader throughout the NTC exercise within a maneuver squad and led in a fashion that produced no-fail results as well as high morale for his team.”
Read more about 3rd Battalion at https://vngpao.info/mpcvyt7y.