Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Hampton-based Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 111th Field Artillery Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and Detachment 1, Headquarters Battery, 1-111th, receive the Governor’s National Service Medal Feb. 25, 2023, in Hampton, Virginia. The unit returned to Virginia in December 2022 after serving on federal active duty in Iraq since March 2022. The Soldiers provided short-range air defense against unmanned aerial systems and rocket artillery and motor attacks using the Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar System, or C-RAM. Brig. Gen. James W. Ring, the VNG Director of the Joint Staff, presented the awards and also thanked the Soldiers and their families for their service. The Virginia Governor's National Service Medal recognizes the service of the men and women of the Virginia Army and Air National Guard called to active federal duty since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.