Lynchburg-based National Guard infantry battalion conducts departure ceremony - Jan. 8, 2010

The Virginia National Guard's Lynchburg-based 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th Brigade Combat Team conducted a departure ceremony Jan. 8 at the Schilling Center at Liberty University in Lynchburg to mark the official start of the unit's federal active duty service. The battalion is expected to have a security force mission in Iraq. The unit is scheduled to report to Camp Shelby, Miss. to conduct mobilization training for approximately 45 to 60 days before deploying to Iraq. The battalion will be attached to the Louisiana National Guard's 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team for the deployment. The mobilization order calls for the official mobilization of approximately 400 Soldiers from the of the Lynchburg-based Headquarters Company, the Bedford and Farmville-based A Company and the Lexington and Clifton Forge-based B Company. Soldiers from the Christiansburg and Radford-based C Company and the Pulaski and Martinsville-based D Company were also alerted to support the mobilization.