Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Norfolk-based Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 111th Field Artillery Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and Bravo Battery, 1-111th, receive the Governor’s National Service Medal Feb. 25, 2023, in Norfolk, 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. K. Weedon Gallagher, the Virginia National Guard Land Component Commander, Lt. Col. David P. Coyle, commander of the 1-111th, Command Sgt. Maj. Rhonda Williams, Maneuver Training Center Fort Pickett command sergeant major, who deployed as the 1-111th command sergeant major, and Rep. Jen Kiggans, presented the awards and thanked the Soldiers 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 Sept. 11, 2001.