Virginia National Guard

180th Engineers head to Louisiana for JRTC rotation
July 14, 2021 — More than 50 Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Powhatan-based 180th Engineer Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group are supporting the Arkansas National Guard during a training rotation July 10 - Aug. 3, 2021, at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Polk, Louisiana. ... MORE

Explosives detection training lane at MTC dedicated to fallen VNG Soldiers
April 6, 2021 — FORT PICKETT, Va. — Current and former Virginia National Guard Soldiers and guests attended a dedication ceremony for the new Banks-Lambert Handheld Detection Lane March 26, 2021, at Fort Pickett, Virginia. The explosives detection training lane was dedicated and named for Sgt. Derek R. Banks and Sgt. David E. Lambert, who were killed when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device Oct. 25, 2007... MORE

Current and former Virginia National Guard Soldiers and guests attend a dedication ceremony for the new Banks-Lambert Handheld Detection Lane March 26, 2021, at Fort Pickett, Virginia.

Task Forces provides critical assistance to Virginia's COVID-19 response
July 15, 2020 — PETERSBURG, Va. — After months of hard work and unprecedented challenges, one element of the Virginia National Guard’s support to the Commonwealth of Virginia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is drawing to a close. While COVID-19 sample collections and mask fit testing continue, the task force dedicated to logistics and… ... MORE

Task Force provides critical assistance to Virginia’s COVID-19 response

VNG continues to support state COVID-19 response
May 21, 2020 — RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia National Guard has more than 530 personnel actively working or ready to support the Commonwealth of Virginia’s COVID-19 response as of May 21, 2020. VNG Soldiers, Airmen, and members of the Virginia Defense Force are conducting numerous missions including sample collection for COVID-19 testing, N95 […] ... MORE

Virginia National Guard staged, ready for possible response to Hurricane Dorian
September 5, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia National Guard has staged approximately 60 Soldiers and 20 vehicles for state emergency support duty Sept. 5, 2019, in the Eastern Shore and Hampton Roads areas, and they are ready to assist local and state emergency agencies respond to potential impacts from Hurricane Dorian. The Soldiers are staged with Humvees and light/medium tactical trucks for high water transportation and also have chain saws for debris reduction. The VNG also has two rotary wing aviation rescue hoist crews on standby... MORE

Virginia National Guard staged and ready for possible response to Hurricane Dorian

276th Engineers tackle Fort Pickett improvements during AT
June 26, 2019 — FORT PICKETT, Va. — Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Petersburg-based 276th Engineer Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group made significant progress in efforts to improve some of Fort Pickett’s training areas during their annual training June 1-15, 2019, at Fort Pickett, Virginia... MORE

576th Engineer Detachment constructs, repairs facilities at SMR during annual training
June 25, 2019 — VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Onancock-based 576th Engineer Utilities Detachment, 276th Engineer Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group constructed new training facilities and repaired current ones at the State Military Reservation in Virginia Beach, Virginia, during their annual training June 8-22, 2019... MORE

Special response force passes key readiness inspection
May 24, 2019 — RICHMOND, Virginia – The Richmond-based 34th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package, pronounced “Surf-P,” achieved an important milestone toward becoming a certified asset to first responders by scoring 95% on a demanding, two-day National Guard Bureau Standardization, Evaluation and Assistance Team, or SEAT, inspection May 23, 2019. The results of the inspection were briefed at the Virginia National Guard’s Sergeant Bob Slaughter Headquarters at Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia... MORE

Family bonds help military couple separated by deployment
February 14, 2019 — RICHMOND, Va. — This Valentine’s Day, Capt. Rachel Billmyer is deployed overseas with the 529th Combat Support Sustainment Battalion. Her fiancé, Capt. Joshua Morgan, is here in Virginia, working full-time as a program manager for the Virginia Department of Military Affairs while commanding the Virginia National Guard’s 237th Engineer Company. Both Billmyer and Morgan are familiar with the deployment process. “I’m the third person in my family to deploy since 2014,” Billmyer said. Both her parents serve in the National Guard and Morgan’s father retired a few years ago and all three have deployed within the past several years... MORE

Unit, family, friends gather to remember fallen VNG Soldiers 14 years later
December 22, 2018 — Two Virginia National Guard Soldiers killed Dec. 21, 2004, in a suicide bombing in Mosul, Iraq, were remembered by fellow Soldiers, family and friends with a wreath laying Dec. 21, 2018, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia... MORE

Soldier Spotlight: Meet Sgt. Timothy Mahanes
October 10, 2018 — Sgt. Timothy Mahanes grew up around heavy equipment so, when he decided to join the Virginia National Guard, enlisting as a 12N, a horizontal construction engineer, was a natural fit... MORE

Parrott assumes command of 276th Engineers at Fort Pickett ceremony
June 14, 2018 — Maj. Demetrius Parrott took command of the Virginia National Guard’s Petersburg-based 276th Engineer Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group from Lt. Col. Christopher S. Dunn in a change of command ceremony June 9, 2018, at Fort Pickett, Virginia. Col. Weedon Gallagher, the 329th RSG commander, presided over the exchange of unit colors that represented the transfer of command from Dunn to Parrott... MORE

Virginia National Guard’s newest training venue nears opening date
April 28, 2018 — Construction was completed on the new training venue in the Old Hospital Area of Fort Pickett Maneuver Training Center April 27, 2018. The new Structure Collapse Venue Site is intended to simulate a large building damaged by a natural disaster or a terrorist attack... MORE

Va. National Guard supports winter storm response with transportation and aerial resupply
January 8, 2018 — The Virginia National Guard put more than 100 personnel on state active duty in the Hampton Roads and Eastern Shore areas Jan. 3, 2018, to provide assistance to state and local authorities when heavy snow hit the region. Over the following three days, Soldiers transported first responders and essential emergency services employees through heavy snow, assisted with response calls and patient transports and aviation crews delivered food, medicine and other supplies to icebound Tangier Island, Virginia. All Virginia National Guard personnel were released from duty by end of the day Jan. 7... MORE

CERFP Soldiers train on search & extraction in West Virginia
August 9, 2017 — More than 50 Soldiers assigned to the Powhatan-based 180th Engineer Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group, traveled to Camp Dawson, near Kingwood, West Virginia, for the Search and Extraction Basic Course, held July 28 – Aug. 4, 2017. During the seven-day course, Soldiers trained on breaching and breaking, lifting and hauling, ropes, confined space entry and shoring... MORE

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