Nordic partners visit 116th during XCTC
Virginia National Guard senior leaders host representatives from four Nordic nations during the Staunton-based 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s eXportable Combat Training Capability rotation June 10, 2025, at Fort Barfoot, Virginia. Military senior leaders from the VNG’s formal state partner Finland, as well as Sweden, Norway and Denmark, observed VNG Soldiers assigned to the Winchester-based 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th IBCT on the Infantry Platoon Battle Course, and Soldiers assigned to the Fredericksburg-based 229th Brigade Engineer Battalion demonstrate unmanned aerial system technology. Retired Navy Cmdr. Joyce Reed, the Virginia Deputy Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, was also on hand to observe training. The 116th is the first Army National Guard brigade to test a prototype task organization for a mobile brigade combat team, and it will be evaluated during a 21-day eXportable Combat Training Capability rotation. The MBCT concept is part of the U.S. Army’s transformation initiative with the goal of making units more agile and lethal. (U.S. National Guard phot boy Mike Vrabel)
Nordic partners visit 116th during XCTC
Virginia National Guard senior leaders host representatives from four Nordic nations during the Staunton-based 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s eXportable Combat Training Capability rotation June 10, 2025, at Fort Barfoot, Virginia. Military senior leaders from the VNG’s formal state partner Finland, as well as Sweden, Norway and Denmark, observed VNG Soldiers assigned to the Winchester-based 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th IBCT on the Infantry Platoon Battle Course, and Soldiers assigned to the Fredericksburg-based 229th Brigade Engineer Battalion demonstrate unmanned aerial system technology. Retired Navy Cmdr. Joyce Reed, the Virginia Deputy Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, was also on hand to observe training. The 116th is the first Army National Guard brigade to test a prototype task organization for a mobile brigade combat team, and it will be evaluated during a 21-day eXportable Combat Training Capability rotation. The MBCT concept is part of the U.S. Army’s transformation initiative with the goal of making units more agile and lethal. (U.S. National Guard phot boy Mike Vrabel)