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Vermont National Guard Logo Press Releases
Press Release | Feb. 4, 2021

Vermont Soldiers deploy to U.S. Central Command

Vermont National Guard Public Affairs

JERICHO, Vermont  –  

The Vermont National Guard will conduct pre-deployment operations at the Jericho Readiness Center, Camp Ethan Allen Training Site, Jericho, Vermont, Feb. 7 from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

About 350 Soldiers primarily from the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry (Mountain), 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), Vermont Army National Guard, as well as about 200 additional Soldiers from New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Colorado will deploy to multiple locations across U.S. Central Command as part of Task Force Avalanche.

About 950 Vermont Army National Guard Soldiers have scheduled deployments to locations across U.S. European Command, U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Central Command throughout the first half of 2021. The Soldiers have been preparing for these deployments for over a year and are among the most ready in the country. The National Guard’s federal mission is what prepares and equips members to perform state missions, such as COVID-19 response, when requested by the governor.

National Guard News
Virginia Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Staunton-based 116th Mobile Brigade Combat Team, Arkansas National Guard Soldiers and Guatemalan service members partnered with Arkansas through the Department of War National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program move into the field June 8, 2026, during a training rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center, or JRTC, at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Brig. Gen. Rusty McGuire, senior trainer for the Virginia Army National Guard’s JRTC rotation, and senior trainer noncommissioned officer Sgt. Maj. Ian Gilliam met with the Soldiers to discuss training operations and multinational interoperability. The 116th Mobile Brigade Combat Team is the first Army National Guard brigade to participate in a JRTC rotation as a mobile brigade combat team after transitioning from an infantry brigade combat team in 2025. JRTC provides U.S. military units and personnel with complex, realistic combat training, including joint and combined-arms operations, force-on-force scenarios and live-fire exercises. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Clements.
Arkansas National Guard, Guatemalan Partners Build Interoperability
By John Oldham, | July 16, 2026
CAMP JOSEPH T. ROBINSON, NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas National Guardsmen and Guatemalan Army special forces recently trained together at Fort Polk, Louisiana, during Joint Readiness Training Center, or JRTC, rotation...

Multinational participants pose for a group photo during the West African Religious Affairs Symposium, or WARAS, in Accra, Ghana, July 14, 2026. U.S. and African military chaplains from 10 partner nations gather for the three-day exchange to discuss methods to support and strengthen service members' spiritual resiliency. Photo by Airman 1st Class Alexandra Dale.
Guard Chaplains, Partners Boost Readiness
By U.S. Africa Command | July 16, 2026
ACCRA, Ghana – Military chaplains and religious affairs personnel from the National Guard and 10 African nations gathered July 14 for the launch of the West African Religious Affairs Symposium, or WARAS, a three-day event...

Several shipping containers altered to look like buildings were relocated recently to the grounds of the Pennsylvania National Guard's Fort Indiantown Gap's Unmanned Aircraft System Training and Innovation Facility. The mock village allows Unmanned Aircraft System operators to fly drones around and through simulated buildings in an urban environment. Photo by Brad Rhen.
Pennsylvania Guard Expands Drone Training
By Brad Rhen, | July 16, 2026
FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – As the battlefield continually shifts toward unmanned aircraft systems, the Pennsylvania National Guard’s Fort Indiantown Gap is expanding its unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, and counter-UAS...