Freedom Salute honors Afghan service for Staunton-based 116th Brigade Combat Team Headquarters
Family, friends and employers join approximately 160 Soldiers from the Virginia National Guard’s Staunton-based 116th Brigade Combat Team Headquarters at the Richmond Convention Center May 20 to conduct a Freedom Salute in honor of their service in Afghanistan. Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Marla Graff Decker joined Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Long, Jr., the Adjutant General of Virginia, in thanking the Soldiers for their service and also presented a certificate of recognition signed by Gov. Bob. McDonnell. The Soldiers officially began federal active duty May 15, 2011, and they served in Afghanistan from July 2011 to January 2012. They trained at Camp Shelby, Miss, for approximately 60 days prior to deploying to Afghanistan, and they mobilized with just 60 days notice. The unit served as headquarters for Combined Team Zabul where they conducted full-spectrum counterinsurgency operations in Zabul Province in southeast Afghanistan, a region nearly the size of the State of New Jersey. The 116th BCT Headquarters was the first time a National Guard brigade commanded all Active Duty and NATO maneuver forces, as well as National Guard support forces in Afghanistan. The 116th BCT Headquarters planned and executed more than 150 lethal and non-lethal missions to include 11 air assault missions, and units serving under the 116th found 50 enemy supply and ordnance caches, detained more than 150 insurgents and found 350 IEDs. The Freedom Salutes also recognized approximately 20 Soldiers from the Bowling Green-based Detachment 1, Company B, 116th Brigade Special Troops Battalion. (Photo by Cotton Puryear, Virginia National Guard Public Affairs)
Freedom Salute honors Afghan service for Staunton-based 116th Brigade Combat Team Headquarters
Family, friends and employers join approximately 160 Soldiers from the Virginia National Guard’s Staunton-based 116th Brigade Combat Team Headquarters at the Richmond Convention Center May 20 to conduct a Freedom Salute in honor of their service in Afghanistan. Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Marla Graff Decker joined Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Long, Jr., the Adjutant General of Virginia, in thanking the Soldiers for their service and also presented a certificate of recognition signed by Gov. Bob. McDonnell. The Soldiers officially began federal active duty May 15, 2011, and they served in Afghanistan from July 2011 to January 2012. They trained at Camp Shelby, Miss, for approximately 60 days prior to deploying to Afghanistan, and they mobilized with just 60 days notice. The unit served as headquarters for Combined Team Zabul where they conducted full-spectrum counterinsurgency operations in Zabul Province in southeast Afghanistan, a region nearly the size of the State of New Jersey. The 116th BCT Headquarters was the first time a National Guard brigade commanded all Active Duty and NATO maneuver forces, as well as National Guard support forces in Afghanistan. The 116th BCT Headquarters planned and executed more than 150 lethal and non-lethal missions to include 11 air assault missions, and units serving under the 116th found 50 enemy supply and ordnance caches, detained more than 150 insurgents and found 350 IEDs. The Freedom Salutes also recognized approximately 20 Soldiers from the Bowling Green-based Detachment 1, Company B, 116th Brigade Special Troops Battalion. (Photo by Cotton Puryear, Virginia National Guard Public Affairs)