Virginia National Guard

Virginia’s African American Militiamen: Remembering the 6th Virginia Volunteers
February 20, 2018 — RICHMOND, Va. – In 1898, two Virginia battalions of African American Soldiers were mustered into federal service in support of the Spanish-American War. Once on federal active duty, the battalions, formed from companies initially organized as early as 1870, formed the 6th Virginia Volunteers. While the men of these units never saw combat, they trained in Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia before returning home... MORE

Virginia’s African American Militiamen: Remembering the 6th Virginia Volunteers
February 20, 2018 — In 1898, two Virginia battalions of African American Soldiers were mustered into federal service in support of the Spanish-American War. Once on federal active duty, the battalions, formed from companies initially organized as early as 1870, formed the 6th Virginia Volunteers. While the men of these units never saw combat, they trained in Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia before returning home... MORE

Virginia National Guard & Virginia War Museum remember WWI
January 2, 2018 — In early December 1917, 150 Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 117th Military Police Company had already spent two months in France, arriving there eight months before the 29th and 80th Divisions and just seven months after President Woodrow Wilson declared war. One hundred years later, on Dec. 2, 2017, at the Virginia War Museum in Newport News, Virginia, retired Chief Warrant Office 4 Alexander F. Barnes, command historian for the Virginia National Guard, told the story of the 117th Military Police Company... MORE

Virginia Guard historical collection helps tell centuries-old stories
October 4, 2017 — For many Virginia National Guard units, 2017 marks their 100th anniversary. Units like the Fort Belvoir-based 29th Infantry Division and the Staunton-based 116th Infantry Regiment both formed as the United States prepared to enter World War I in 1917. Fort Pickett and Camp Pendleton, the Virginia National Guard’s premier training installations, also celebrated their respective 75th and 100th birthdays this year... MORE

New exhibit highlights Va. Guard service in WWI
May 24, 2017 — A new exhibit highlighting the Virginia National Guard’s service in World War I officially opened May 22, 2017, at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia. For the National Guard, WWI was significant because it was the first time volunteer state militia units were federalized under U.S. Army structure and deployed overseas for combat operations... MORE

Cake cutting ceremony recognizes 410th birthday of Va. National Guard, Jamestown
May 12, 2017 — A cake cutting ceremony to recognize the 410th birthday of the Virginia National Guard and Jamestown was held May 12, 2017, Sandston, Virginia. The Virginia Guard traces the heritage and traditions of Citizen-Soldier and Citizen-Airmen service to the founding of Jamestown when Capt. John Smith organized the colonists for defense. Since the colony’s founding on May 14, 1607, there has not been a day since without a military presence in Virginia to defend freedom at home and overseas... MORE

Va. Guard helps commemorate 100th anniversary of U.S. entry to WWI
April 11, 2017 — One hundred years after America entered the conflict of what would become known as World War I, Virginia citizens, veterans and leaders joined Virginia National Guard Soldiers for a commemoration ceremony April 6, 2017, at the Virginia War Memorial Carillon in Richmond, Virginia. The event, hosted by the Virginia World War I and World War II Commemoration Commission included remarks by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia, Virginia Deputy Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs Jaime Areizaga-Soto, and a keynote address by Dr. Lynn Rainville, Research Professor in the Humanities at Sweet Briar College. Delegate Kirk Cox, chairman of the Commission, served as the master of ceremony... MORE

Vietnam veterans recognized by Congressman Goodlatte in Staunton ceremony
March 30, 2017 — More than 100 Vietnam veterans filed onto the drill floor of the Thomas D. Howie Memorial Readiness Center March 30, 2017, for a Vietnam Veterans Commemoration Ceremony. The event, hosted by Congressman Bob Goodlatte in Staunton, Virginia, included several helping hands from the Virginia National Guard’s 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Soldiers of the unit not only provided a color guard and other support to the ceremony, but several Soldiers were on hand to welcome and usher in the Vietnam veterans to their readiness center and to personally thank them for their service... MORE

Digging more than a foxhole at Fort Pickett
March 25, 2017 — Atop a green pasture spotted with wandering cattle at the junction of the Nottoway and Little Nottoway rivers, a team of archaeologists studied the soil of four trenches, each one about 12 inches deep. The archaeology site, investigated by a team of archaeologists March 22, 2017, is just one of the hundreds of similar sites undergoing excavation for the Virginia National Guard Cultural Resources Management Program, or CRMP... MORE

Virginia Soldiers recover World War I German mortar
July 8, 2016 — Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Richmond-based Combined Support Maintenance Shop recovered a World War I era German mortar that had been lost for more than 40 years July 7, 2016, near Petersburg, Virginia... MORE

Cake cutting marks 409th birthday for Va. Guard, Jamestown Settlement
May 19, 2016 — Senior leaders from the Virginia National Guard gathered to celebrate the 409th birthday of the Virginia National Guard and the founding of the Jamestown colony with a cake cutting May 14, 2016, at Jamestown Settlement in Williamsburg, Virginia. The Virginia National Guard traces the heritage and traditions of Citizen-Soldier and Citizen-Airmen service to the founding of the Jamestown colony more than 400 years ago when Capt. John Smith organized a militia to defend the colony. Since the colony’s founding May 14, 1607, there has not been a day since without a military presence in Virginia to defend freedom at home and overseas... MORE

Candidates, cadre, graduates celebrate OCS 58th birthday
April 26, 2016 — RICHMOND, Va. — Officer candidates, graduates and cadre of the Virginia Army National Guard Officer Candidate School celebrated its 58th birthday with a ceremony April 19, 2016, at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College’s Downtown Campus in Richmond, Virginia. Officer candidates in Class 58, who are scheduled to graduate in August 2016, organized the ceremony, which included the family of Capt. Harry Q. Rose, a graduate of Class VIII who was killed in Vietnam in 1969 and remains the only Virginia OCS graduate to have been killed in action... MORE

Officer candidates, graduates and cadre of the Virginia Army National Guard Officer Candidate School celebrate its 58th birthday with a ceremony April 19, 2016, at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College’s Downtown Campus in Richmond, Virginia. Officer candidates in Class 58, who are scheduled to graduate in August 2016, organized the ceremony, which included the family of Capt. Harry Q. Rose, a graduate of Class VIII who was killed in Vietnam in 1969 and remains the only Virginia OCS graduate to have been killed in action. (Photo by Master Sgt. A.J. Coyne, Virginia National Guard Public Affairs)

Historical, archaeological archives move into new digs at Fort Pickett
April 20, 2016 — The Virginia National Guard Historical Collection and archeological collection both moved into a new building with some help from members of the Virginia Defense Force March 28-31, 2016, at Fort Pickett, Virginia... MORE

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