VIRGINIA BEACH –
The Virginia Army National Guard Funeral Honors Program hosted nine Army National Guard Soldiers from six states and territories for a level 2 funeral honors training course Jan. 26 - Feb. 5, 2026, at the State Military Reservation in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Soldiers from Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Puerto Rico, Wisconsin and Wyoming participated in the two week-long training, which certifies instructors to teach fellow Soldiers the skills, procedures and standards for providing final respects to military veterans.
“The Soldiers usually fly in from all over the country,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Cain, the senior instructor for the Virginia Army National Guard Funeral Honors Program. “To have a Soldier from Puerto Rico work with a Soldier from Florida and have no question of what the standard is, is truly amazing.”
Weather impacted this course, as storms delayed many of the Soldiers, according to Cain.
“This course was extremely trying due to the weather,” he said. “Some Soldiers didn’t fly in until 2 a.m. This led to us having to shift the schedule a little, but these Soldiers are extremely dedicated and we made it work.”
There are three levels of training in the military funeral honors program. Level 1 is the foundation and teaches Soldiers how to perform the services. Virginia conducts a 40-hour, Level 1 training course several times a year.
Level 2 covers instructing and how to become more of a trainer.
Level 3 is used as a recertification and helps ensure each state is maintaining the national standard.
Virginia has become the hub for National Guard Funeral Honors training and hosts training for all three levels several times throughout the year.
“Virginia hosted our first National Funeral Honors Training Course 10 years ago,” Cain explained. “I took a lot of notes on what it takes to host these courses.”
As he traveled around the country, Cain figured out what to do and what not to do to make these courses possible.
“With the support of the staff at SMR, we have become the primary location for MFH National Training Courses for the Eastern United States,” he explained. “The staff at SMR has given us storage space to keep all training equipment on site. This makes things very easy for us to set up and tear down between courses.”
Begun in January 2007, the Virginia National Guard Military Funeral Honors 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 26,000 funeral services throughout the Commonwealth and average 200 services each month.
For more information on the Virginia National Guard Funeral Honors Program please visit
https://va.ng.mil/Programs-Resources/Funeral-Honors/ or call 434-480-2599.