Virginia National Guard

Virginia Defense Force celebrates 35th anniversary
April 20, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia Defense Force celebrated its 35th anniversary with a cake-cutting ceremony April 18, 2019, at the Sergeant Bob Slaughter Headquarters at Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia. With historical roots dating back to World War I, the modern Virginia Defense Force was formally reestablished in 1984, and Virginia General Assembly Joint Resolution 864 commends the VDF on its 35th anniversary... MORE

VNG leaders tackle ACFT challenge
April 17, 2019 — FORT PICKETT, Va. — More than 20 leaders from the Virginia Army National Guard accepted the challenge offered by Command Sgt. Maj. Ronald Smith, the Virginia Army National Guard’s state command sergeant major, to take the new Army Combat Fitness Test April 6, 2019, at Fort Pickett, Virginia. The ACFT will become the U.S. Army’s official physical fitness test of record in less than two years and the event gave leaders a chance to experience it first-hand... MORE

VNG welcomes new command senior enlisted leader
April 10, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — Command Chief Master Sgt. James J. Profita took responsibility as the Virginia National Guard Command Senior Enlisted Leader from Command Sgt. Maj. Alan Ferris April 7, 2019, in a ceremony at the Sergeant Bob Slaughter Headquarters at Defense Supply Center Richmond. Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia, hosted the ceremony... MORE

VNG supports Roanoke area law enforcement operation resulting in hundreds of arrests
April 2, 2019 — ROANOKE, Va. — The Virginia National Guard joined more than a dozen law enforcement agencies throughout the Roanoke Valley announcing the results of Operation Triple Beam, an intensive law enforcement operation that recently came to a successful conclusion, April 1, 2019, in Roanoke, Virginia... MORE

Events honor Virginia National Guard’s women Soldiers and veterans
March 20, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — Two recent events marking Women’s History Month and Virginia Women Veterans Week 2019 honored Virginia National Guard’s female Soldiers and veterans, including one woman serving with the Norfolk-based 1st Battalion, 111th Field Artillery Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Sgt. Taylor Cunningham, who works full-time with the 1-111th, was recognized during the Military Through The Ages event at the historic Jamestown Settlement March. 16, 2019, near Williamsburg, Virginia. The annual event featured a special salute to women’s wartime service, from their original support roles to their modern inclusion in combat units... MORE

Online, resident training now available for IPPS-A implementation
March 15, 2019 — FORT PICKETT, Virginia — The Army’s new personnel and pay system is coming to Virginia this spring and its rollout will require Virginia Army National Guard Soldiers and leaders at all levels to complete various levels of training in order to take full advantage of its capabilities. The Integrated Personnel and Pay System Army, which is scheduled to go live in Virginia April 3, 2019, is an online human resources system that will provide integrated personnel, pay and talent management capabilities in a single system to all Army components for the first time ever... MORE

VNG family, youth volunteer receive national recognition for volunteer service
February 22, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia National Guard family was recognized as the 2018 Army National Guard Family of the Year and a volunteer was recognized with the Extra Mile Award in an announcement published Feb. 13, 2019, by Maj. Gen. Kevin L. McNeely, the Director of J1 Manpower and Personnel at National Guard Bureau... MORE

Richmond’s 19th century African-American armory part of VNG history
February 20, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — Just a few miles from the Virginia National Guard Sergeant Bob Slaughter Headquarters at Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia, stands an imposing brick structure resembling a medieval fortress in the historic African-American neighborhood of Jackson Ward, just north of downtown Richmond. ... MORE

Efforts underway to digitize VNG’s WWI personnel records
February 19, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia National Guard has a wealth of historic personnel records of Virginians who were among the first troops called to serve in World War I, and efforts are currently underway to digitize those records for online access... MORE

Profita named new VNG command senior enlisted leader
January 25, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — Command Chief Master Sgt. James J. Profita will succeed Command Sgt. Maj. Alan Ferris as the Virginia National Guard’s command senior enlisted leader, according to an announcement made Jan. 24, 2019, by Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia. Ferris now serves as the command sergeant major for the 29th Infantry Division, and Profita serves as senior enlisted leader for strategy and policy and senior enlisted Guard advisor at Headquarters U.S. European Command. His assignment as CSEL is effective April 1, 2019... MORE

Puckett named VNG command chief warrant officer
January 24, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — Chief Warrant Officer 5 Joseph W. Puckett has been named as the Virginia National Guard’s new Command Chief Warrant Officer, according to an announcement made Jan. 24, 2019, by Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia. The assignment is effective April 1, 2019, and follows the pending retirement of current Chief Warrant Officer 4 Donald Unmussig. “Chief Warrant Officer 4 Unmussig has provided outstanding leadership to the Warrant Officer Corps, and sage counsel to me on all related matters,” Williams wrote in the announcement. “His contributions to the Army logistics community and National Guard as a whole have been remarkable. We truly appreciate his dedication and sacrifice to our commonwealth and nation, and wish him the very best in retirement.”... MORE

VNG speaker series: Command historian offers leadership perspective
January 17, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia National Guard Soldiers and Airmen, plus guests, retirees and family members, received some valuable leadership lessons from an unlikely source during VNG’s speaker series Jan. 16, 2019, at the Library of Virginia in Richmond. VNG command historian Al Barnes, a retired chief warrant officer 4 and former enlisted Marine, titled his presentation “Leadership lessons: A historians perspective.” During the hour-long presentation, Barnes used examples from military history to provide simple but meaningful lessons to the leaders in attendance... MORE

Virginia National Guard dedicates new headquarters to D-Day veteran
January 8, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia National Guard’s newly-built Joint Force Headquarters was officially named and dedicated for Roanoke native and D-Day veteran Sgt. John Robert “Bob” Slaughter Jan. 8, 2019, at Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia... MORE

Virginia National Guard to dedicate new headquarters to D-Day veteran from Roanoke
January 7, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia National Guard’s newly-built Joint Force Headquarters will be officially named and dedicated for D-day veteran Sgt. John Robert “Bob” Slaughter at 10 a.m. Jan. 8, 2019, at Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia. Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia, will join members of Slaughter’s family and distinguished guests to dedicate the headquarters building, which officially opened in May 2018... MORE

Mobilization roster, circa 1940, is jewel of Virginia National Guard’s historic archives
December 7, 2018 — When he’s asked what is the Virginia National Guard’s most prized historic artifact, command historian Al Barnes’ answer may illicit some surprise. It’s not a weapon or a uniform, and it’s not patch or a photo. Instead, Barnes calls a 1940 Virginia National Guard mobilization roster a “pearl without price.”... MORE

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