STAUNTON, Va. –
Currently-serving and veteran Soldiers of the 116th Infantry Regiment gathered with loved ones and invited guests for the 57th Annual 116th Regimental Muster Nov. 8, 2025, in Staunton, Virginia. Col. Arthur Moore, commander of the 116th Mobile Brigade Combat Team, provided an update on the 116th’s ongoing transformation, recognized the company-level unit with the highest state of readiness and presented the Order of Saint Maurice.
The Charlottesville and Harrisonburg-based Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th MBCT was recognized as the company-level unit with the highest readiness in the brigade and received the 2025 Superior Unit Award.
Command Sgt. Maj. Donald Spring Jr., the senior enlisted leader for the Fredericksburg-based 229th Brigade Engineer Battalion, received the Order of Saint Maurice. The award is given to individuals who demonstrate the highest standards of integrity, moral character, professional competence and have made significant contributions to the U. S. Army Infantry.
Moore explained that in November 2024 the Army selected the 116th as one of two National Guard infantry brigade combat teams to transform as part of the U.S. Army’s Transformation in Contact initiative.
“This started the brigade on a journey that involves significant changes to our unit formations, plenty of new equipment and changes in how we fight,” he said.
The biggest change for the 116th is to our unit force structure, Moore said. The new MBCT consists of the headquarters company and three organic infantry battalions with the addition of a new brigade multi-functional reconnaissance company. The 429th Brigade Support Battalion transformed to a light support battalion and fires and engineer support will be provided by division-level units in direct support roles as transformation recentralizes several capabilities from the brigade level up to the division level.
As part of the transformation, the brigade’s cavalry squadron and engineer battalion will inactivate in September 2026 and be replaced functionally by smaller Army organizations, Moore said.
The cavalry squadron’s role as the brigade’s reconnaissance element is fulfilled by the new MFRC which now holds mounted and dismounted reconnaissance units, the brigade’s drone platoon and electronic warfare element.
As the Army restructures their engineer force, brigade engineer battalions are being replaced by division engineer battalions that consist of combat engineer companies - infantry, or CEC-Is.
“These are intended to be attached to brigades to provide the engineer support,” Moore said. “Our military intelligence and signal companies remain intact within the brigade, but will eventually move to division or corps level pending future Army force structure guidance.”
Moore said the rifle battalions and their organic companies remain largely unchanged, but the heavy weapons companies are transforming to Multi-Purpose Companies that concentrate ground and drone reconnaissance, snipers and mortars in the battalion.
The artillery battalion structure remains largely unchanged as well but will eventually fall under the 29th Division Artillery after it comes online.
“The DIVARTY will provide field artillery battalions to MBCTs in a direct support role,” Moore said. “The field artillery battalion will keep its forward support company, which becomes an organic formation separate from the light support battalion.”
The 429th Brigade Support Battalion also undergoes significant change as it converts to a light support battalion, Moore said.
“The LSB has one fewer base company with the headquarters company and the distribution company combining to form the headquarters distribution company. Bravo, the old maintenance company, stays largely unchanged but reflags to Alpha Company. Charlie Company, known as Charlie Med, remains largely unchanged but reflags to Bravo Company.
Moore noted that forward support companies are replaced by smaller combat logistics companies in direct support to the rifle battalions.
The brigade hosted the National Guard’s final eXportable Combat Training Capability rotation this past June at Fort Pickett, Moore said
“The brigade focused on testing this new task organization to great success and learned many new lessons during the field training exercise,” he said. “This is a significant change to how the brigade is task organized, and the way it fights, so we still have many lessons to learn, and our Joint Readiness Training Center rotation next June will provide that opportunity.”
Moore said another big focus from XCTC this summer was on new equipment the brigade had procured to meet the Army’s intent to transform quickly, notably drones and improved communications equipment like Starshield satellite communication terminals.
“General Jared Lake and his staff focused hard on getting drones in the hands of our units to get used to employing these for reconnaissance,” he said. “The brigade also had to contend with countering the drone threat at XCTC. This is a new challenge that changes the complexity of the battlefield and requires a shift in thinking for us as an organization, much like the improvised explosive device threat we saw in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Moore said the brigade will receive additional equipment like the Infantry Squad Vehicle, which just arrived at Fort Pickett and will be fielded to brigade formations starting the second week in November.
He said the notable change in equipment is the significant increase in drones or unmanned aerial systems capabilities.
“Once fielded, these will be in our Soldiers’ hands down to the company level, he said. “Along with this, we will receive Counter-UAS systems to help counter this increasingly lethal threat on the battlefield.”
The brigade will also receive new electronic warfare equipment as well as mobility-enhancing items like autonomous wheeled sleds, Moore said. The brigade is also set to receive upgraded command and control equipment that will enable faster and more distributed communications.
“The brigade is also adjusting to how it fights doctrinally,” Moore said. “The Infantry Squad Vehicles provide a means to cover more objectives and get near them faster, and our drones and electronic warfare equipment help with reconnaissance.”
He said the rifle and rucksack remain central, but now they are joined by sensors and platforms that give the infantry more reach, awareness and options.
“Our fundamental job to close with the enemy as light infantry remains unchanged,” Moore said.
“Tonight we muster to honor those who came before, serve those who serve now, and prepare those who will serve tomorrow,” Moore said. “Thank you to the families, employers, the 116th Regimental Association and community supporters. We couldn’t do this without you. I look forward to the year ahead.”