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Virginia National Guard meets challenges of busy 2016 By Cotton Puryear

SANDSTON, Va.—The Virginia National Guard is a dual-status military force with both a state and federal mission, and it effectively balanced the demands of those missions through 2016 in one of the busiest years in recent memory. “I am incredibly proud of the dedicated service and tremendous duty performance from our entire force in 2016,” said Maj. Gen. Timothy P.Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia. “We also owe a special thanks to their families, loved ones and employers because we couldn’t perform our mission without their critical support.” The National Guard’s federal mission is to provide the combat reserve forces to help fight our nation’s wars, and nearly 1,500 Soldiers and Airmen served on federal active duty in 2016. Virginia Guard units conducted a wide variety of missions including mission command, military-to-military partnership building, security and rotary wing flight operations and maintenance. Nearly 850 personnel are still serving on federal active duty in the Middle East, and they join the nearly 15,000 Soldiers and Airmen who have mobilized for homeland security missions, combat operations and peacekeeping and stabilization missions since September 11, 2001. “This has been one of our busiest years in terms of number of people mobilized for federal active duty, and our personnel have met and exceeded every challenge,” Williams said. “In particular, I look at the great work of the Soldiers of the 29th Infantry Division as they prepared for a mobilization on very short notice, and now they will

be leading more than 18,000 personnel in the Middle East. That’s the largest number of people they have led since World War II, and they have a great team in place to make sure the mission is successful.” The Guard’s state mission is to answer the call of the governor to assist citizens of the commonwealth during times of need, and more than 900Virginia National Guard personnel served on state active duty this year in response to severe weather events as part of the state’s multi-agency team. Soldiers transported first responders through heavy snow and high water, helped get citizens to safety and used chain saws to help clear debris and open roads after tornadoes and hurricanes. Soldiers, Airmen and Virginia Defense Force troopers also assisted with mission command, logistics and public information support. “Once again this year we demonstrated our ability to quickly respond when called by the governor after severe weather hitsVirginia” Williams said. “In some cases our personnel were staged and ready to respond in less than 12 hours, and that is no easy task when you have to leave work and family. But the Guard is a critical part of the state’s response capabilities, and our personnel are dedicated to meeting the demands of the mission to help keep our fellowVirginian’s safe.” The Virginia National Guard consistently ranks at the top in the nation in readiness indicators tracked by National Guard Bureau, and it received national recognition for renewable energy, maintenance, marksmanship and military education. It received a Secretary of the Army Energy and Water Management Award in the Renewables and Alternatives category, and the Fort Pickett-based Maneuver Area Training Equipment Site was selected for a 2015 Army Award for Maintenance Excellence in the Army National Guard Table of Distribution andAllowance Category.Virginia National Guard Soldiers took first place in the U.S. Army Service Pistol Team Championship and excelled in numerous other team and individual categories at the 2016 All-Army Small Arms Championship. The Virginia National Guard’s Fort Pickett-based 183rd Regiment, Regional Training Institute was awarded “Institute of Excellence” status by U. S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and evaluated as full accredited. “There are so many examples of how our uniformed personnel and state and federal workforce are exceeding the standard,”Williams said. “We are so fortunate to have such a great group of dedicated people who won’t settle and want to be the best.” The all-volunteer Virginia Defense Force continued to improves its capabilities and build expertise in interoperable communications. These dedicated professionals bring significant civilian expertise with them and help make sure theVDF can provide critical communications when needed, and they also a force multiplier for the Guard providing operations centers augmentation and public information support. In

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