By Maj. Benjamin Hughes
ARLINGTON, Va. — Approximately 500 Virginia and Maryland National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 29th Infantry Division deploying in support of Operation Spartan Shield and Operation Inherent Resolve gathered with family members, friends, and military leaders for a departure ceremony, October 3, 2026.
Maj. Gen. Christopher Samulski and Command Sgt. Maj. Eric J. Saxton, the 29th Infantry Division command team, cased the division colors during the ceremony at the Hyatt Regency ballroom. The colors will be unfurled when the division arrives in the U.S. Central Command area of operations.
Maj. Gen. James W. Ring, the adjutant general of Virginia, and Brig. Gen. Andrew W. Collins, commander of the Maryland Army National Guard, along with Samulski addressed the Soldiers and their families. Maj. Gen. Janeen L. Birckhead, adjustant general of Maryland, was also in attendance and the Virginia National Guard’s 29th Infantry Division Band provided music for the ceremony.
“Over the past few years, the Soldiers of this division have met demanding individual and collective training requirements in preparation for this deployment,” Collins said. “Every requirement was an opportunity for a weak link. Every event was a chance for one variable to become zero, but none of them did. That is what readiness looks like. That is what well-led and disciplined units do. That is the National Guard at its best: Always Ready, Always There.”
This is the division’s third mobilization in support of Operation Spartan Shield since 2016, so the relationships established by Soldiers during previous deployments have helped strengthen partnerships with U.S. allies in the region, according to Samulski.
In the last year, the division also had an accelerated training and preparation schedule, which included multiple command post exercises, a division warfighter exercise, Soldier Readiness Processing, and equipment preparation. Approximately 260 Virginia Army National Guard Soldiers and approximately 240 Maryland Army National Guard Soldiers are part of the moblization.
“On behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and speaking for Maj. Gen. Birckhead, on behalf of the state of Maryland, we stand with you as Soldiers and family members and we thank you for your service,” said Ring, as he emphasized the division’s long record of service, from major conflicts overseas to domestic missions. “We know that you are going to be asked to do tough things in the days ahead, as we are sending you into a theater that needs the peace and strength that you will bring simply by your very presence of being there.”
The deployment is the next chapter of the “Blue and Gray” Division. The historic division has served in combat operations in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive during World War I, the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach in Normandy, and subsequent fighting across Europe during World War II. More recently, Soldiers from the division have served in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Afghanistan, the Arabian Gulf, and in missions supporting Afghan evacuees.
“This division has one of the most renowned histories, and now we all get to be part of that next legacy,” Samulski said. “We get to carry on our shoulders everything that the Soldiers that came before us have done, from France all the way up until the current day, and I know that they’re going to do a great job.”
