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Governor, AG recognize outstanding performance at VNG Military Ball
February 29, 2024 — Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin delivered the keynote address at the 2024 Virginia National Guard Military Ball and Gala Feb. 24, 2024, in Richmond, Virginia, and helped recognize some of the VNG’s top performers...

New VAARNG director of psychological health aims to increase awareness
February 27, 2024 — James O. Parker IV assumed the role of Virginia Army National Guard director of psychological health Feb. 26, 2024. “I am very excited to be begin my role as the new director of psychological health,” Parker said...

229th MPs conduct checkpoint security exchange in Tajikistan
February 27, 2024 — Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Hanover-based 229th Military Police Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group conducted a border checkpoint military security exchange with the Republic of Tajikistan Feb. 19 - 23, 2024, in Dusti, Tajikistan. ...

From Marine to Guard, a Red Dragon sniper’s journey across continents
February 26, 2024 — Staff Sgt. Joshua Johnson’s journey into the military began with a casual invitation from a friend to go “hang out” at the local U.S. Marine Corps recruiting station. His friend had just joined the Marine Corps Reserve and, at 18, Johnson didn’t even really know what a Marine was. He’d just graduated high school and said, “I wasn’t really doing anything.” When the recruiter asked if he wanted to blow stuff up, Johnson said yes, and enlisted as a combat engineer...

New director looks to keep ChalleNGe striving for excellence
February 26, 2024 — Jennifer D. Lanz is the new director of the Commonwealth Challenge Youth Academy and started her new position Feb. 1, 2024. Lanz most recently served as assistant principal at Floyd E. Kellam High School in Virginia Beach. Commonwealth ChalleNGe Youth Academy is the Virginia component of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program and is based at the State Military Reservation in Virginia Beach, Virginia. ChalleNGe is a 17-and-a-half-month program that is structured in a military-style environment designed to promote academics, attention to detail, time management, and leadership, while promoting self-esteem, confidence and pride...

Army flight school grad follows in father’s footsteps
February 20, 2024 — When Warrant Officer Paul D. Kelly walked across the stage and graduated flight school Feb.8, 2024, his silver wings were not the only thing he took away with him. Also in his tool kit is a sense of connection he found among those who knew and flew with his late father, Col. Paul M. Kelly, a senior Army aviator who served at the National Guard Bureau and Department of the Army Staff levels, who was killed in action when the warrant officer was only nine years old...

529th CSSB validated, ready for mission in Poland
February 20, 2024 — Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Virginia Beach-based 529th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion have been validated for their upcoming federal active duty mission to Poland after conducting a collective training exercise Feb. 12-16, 2024, at Fort Cavazos, Texas.“We received some terrific training over the past few weeks from our...

VNG WOCs hit milestones, hurtle toward graduation
February 14, 2024 — The seven Soldiers currently enrolled in the Virginia Army National Guard’s Warrant Officer Candidate School are nearly through with their transition from noncommissioned officers to fully-fledged warrant officers. Over their most recent drill weekend, held Feb. 2-4, 2024, the candidates tackled their community project at the Chesterfield Food Bank and Outreach Center, took their capstone academic assessment, and presented their class song and sign to their battalion commander...

203rd RED HORSE conducts engineer exchange in Tajikistan
February 12, 2024 — Virginia National Guard Airmen assigned to the Virginia Beach-based 203rd Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers, 192nd Wing conducted an engineer exchange with Republic of Tajikistan military and law enforcement personnel Jan. 22 - 26, 2024, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan...

183rd RTI trains transporters
February 10, 2024 — At the Fort Pickett-based 183rd Regiment, Regional Training Institute, National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers learned basic and advanced motor transport skills during the 88M Motor Transport Operator course, taught in two two-week phases Jan. 10-Feb. 7, 2015...

VNG NCO qualifies as Ranger Instructor, serves as RTAC cadre
February 9, 2024 — Sgt. Daniel Leikin joined the Virginia Army National Guard in 2020, just a few months after graduating from high school. In the less than four years since then, he’s been busy. He completed his initial training as an infantryman, then Ranger School, deployed with Task Force Red Dragon and then earned himself a stack of badges to go along with his tab, completing both Air Assault and Airborne School, and earning his Expert Infantryman Badge. It’s his most recent accomplishment though, that he’s the proudest of...

Field artillery NCO reflects on quick-paced military journey
February 6, 2024 — For Sgt. Christopher Brown, the best part about serving in the field artillery is the camaraderie he’s found there. He serves in the Virginia Army National Guard’s Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 111th Field Artillery Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Hanover, Virginia, as a 13B Cannon Crewmember. He’s been in the military for about half a decade, but has already experienced a handful of schools and both an overseas and stateside deployment...

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