VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. –
Soldiers assigned to the Virginia Army National Guard Funeral Honors Program provided funeral honors training to active-duty Soldiers assigned to the Joint Base Langley-Eustis-based 7th Transportation Brigade Aug. 25 – Sept. 5, 2025, at the State Military Reservation in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The MFH Program Soldiers provided two separate, week-long training iterations to two groups of 7th Transportation Brigade Soldiers.
“Training with the active component is always an interesting challenge for us as trainers,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Cain, the senior instructor for the Virginia National Guard Funeral Honors Program. “They are only on funeral details for 30 to 90 days. So when we get to train them for a week, we have to maximize our training time. It’s a great experience each time we do this. The Soldiers are very eager to learn everything we have to teach them.”
“These instructors are very, very good at what they do,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jonathon Doston, a watercraft operator assigned to Headquarters Detachment, 11th Transportation Battalion, 7th Transportation Brigade, who served as noncommissioned officer in charge for the second group of Soldiers. “You can see they care.”
Cain was joined by three other Virginia Army National Guard Soldiers leading the training and although it focused on the physical aspects of conducting funeral honors, the instructors also spent time explaining the importance and value of the funeral honors mission.
“We want them to understand that funeral honors is not just a detail,” Cain said. “We take a lot of pride in it. It’s an honor to do it. You’re not there for yourself. You’re here to honor that family and honor that veteran. We’re trying to give them a new way to look at it and it seems to have helped them. I think it really made them take more pride in what they’re doing.”
Pvt. Ricka Abueva, assigned to 119th Transportation Company, 11th Transportation Battalion, 7th Transportation Brigade, has only been on the Army about a year but has already performed several funeral services.
“This training is all new compared to what we were taught and it’s tough physical and mentally,” she said. “But it’s very gratifying because you’re honoring someone for their service.”
“It’s a lot of work and it’s mentally and physical tough but at the end of the day it’s gratifying because you’re giving something back to family members of someone who has served our country,” Doston said. “It’s an honor.”
The Virginia Guard MFH Program hosts several training courses for Soldiers from around the country throughout the year. The program is composed of four teams located throughout the state which provide funeral details, not just to National Guard Soldiers, but to veterans of the active Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard.
They have performed more than 26,866 funeral services throughout the Commonwealth and average 150 services each month.
For more information about the Virginia National Guard Funeral Honors Program visit-
https://va.ng.mil/Programs-Resources/Funeral-Honors/