{"id":1350,"date":"2022-06-16T00:00:40","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T00:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vdf.virginia.gov\/?p=1350"},"modified":"2023-01-14T13:24:19","modified_gmt":"2023-01-14T13:24:19","slug":"vdf-members-visit-army-museum-at-fort-belvoir-deepen-their-awareness-of-americas-military-heritage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vdf.virginia.gov\/?p=1350","title":{"rendered":"VDF members visit Army Museum at Fort Belvoir, deepen their awareness of America\u2019s military heritage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Members of the Virginia Defense Force\u2019s Fairfax-based Bravo Company, 11th Signal Battalion, 1st Regiment, visit the National Museum of the United States Army June 4, 2022, at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, as part of the unit\u2019s regular training. The visit was intended to increase their overall understanding of Army history as well as the VDF\u2019s own role as part of the nation\u2019s \u201corganized militia.\u201d (Virginia Defense Force photo by SPC (Va.) Eric Badertscher)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

FORT BELVOIR, Va. \u2013 Members of the Virginia Defense Force\u2019s Bravo Company, 11th Signal Battalion, 1st Regiment, visited the National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir on June 4, 2022, as part of the Fairfax-based unit\u2019s regular weekend training. The purpose was to increase their overall understanding of Army history as well as their own role as part of the nation\u2019s \u201corganized militia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owned and operated by the U.S. Army, the museum \u201cpreserves and honors the accomplishments, sacrifices, and commitment of American Soldiers\u201d and reflects Soldiers\u2019 seven core values: \u201cLoyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage.\u201d Learn more at https:\/\/www.thenmusa.org\/<\/p>\n

The Museum is managed by the nonprofit Army Historical Foundation.<\/p>\n

First Lt. (Va.) Mark Royce, Bravo Company commander and a political science professor at Northern Virginia Community College, said the visit gave VDF personnel a unique opportunity to learn more about the Army\u2019s decisive role in U.S. history and the significance of both the active and reserve forces in maintaining readiness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSuch shared experiences also boost morale,\u201d Royce said. \u201cThey help personnel return to their training with broadened awareness and stimulated imagination.”<\/p>\n

Royce\u2019s senior NCO, 1st Sgt. (Va.) Alnita V. Baldon, agreed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGetting to see history, and how the military, uniforms, equipment, supplies, and other ways of living have changed over the years, gives an interesting and better understanding of the Army and VDF history,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Baldon, a former U.S. Army Reserve drill instructor who joined the VDF in 2008, recently concluded her tour with Bravo Company and now serves as command sergeant major of the 11th Signal Battalion.<\/p>\n

The VDF personnel started by watching Of Noble Deeds, a short film that portrays Army history through the framework of the seven core values. The title comes from a speech given after the Civil War by Joshua Chamberlain, a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions at Gettysburg.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With these words in mind, Bravo Company members then explored the exhibits.<\/p>\n

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Members of the Virginia Defense Force\u2019s Fairfax-based Bravo Company, 11th Signal Battalion, 1st Regiment, visit the National Museum of the United States Army June 4, 2022, at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, as part of the unit\u2019s regular training. (Virginia Defense Force photo by SPC (Va.) Eric Badertscher)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sgt. (Va.) Fei Guan said the colonial warfare exhibit, \u201cFounding the Nation,\u201d was the most touching because of units\u2019 small size and limited equipment compared to the U.S. Army today. Despite these limitations, he said, the organized militia has played an \u201cindispensable role\u201d in American history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cpl. (Va.) Peter Emcheff added that the exhibit holds \u201ca very strong and direct tie to the history of the VDF,\u201d as the Continental Army was founded partly with colonial militia, including Virginia troops.<\/p>\n

What impressed Spc. (Va.) Nicholas Dwuma were displays showing the numbers of Americans who have served in the Army over the years. He noted that more than 11 million served during World War II alone.<\/p>\n

Spc. (Va.) Teresa Malone appreciated the technology displays, which showed how the capabilities of an Army signals unit have changed over the years, from World War I aircraft radios to modern software-based communications systems.<\/p>\n

For Pfc. (Va.) Darryl Potter, the \u201cFounding the Nation\u201d exhibit provided a basis for understanding how America\u2019s Army has transformed the world over the centuries. The \u201cChanging World\u201d exhibit, focusing on the post-Cold War era, shows that today\u2019s Soldiers are fighting for the same values as their Revolutionary War counterparts. \u201cThey\u2019re still fighting for what we\u2019re trying to become. One nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The VDF is authorized by Title 44 of the Code of Virginia as the all-volunteer reserve of the Virginia National Guard, and it serves as a force multiplier integrated into all Guard domestic operations. The VDF reports to the Adjutant General of Virginia as part of the Virginia Department of Military Affairs along with the Virginia Army National Guard and Virginia Air National Guard. Members of the VDF volunteer their time for training and are only paid when called to duty by an authorization from the Governor of Virginia.<\/p>\n

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Members of the Virginia Defense Force\u2019s Fairfax-based Bravo Company, 11th Signal Battalion, 1st Regiment, visit the National Museum of the United States Army June 4, 2022, at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, as part of the unit\u2019s regular training. (Virginia Defense Force photo by SPC (Va.) Eric Badertscher)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FORT BELVOIR, Va. \u2013 Members of the Virginia Defense Force\u2019s Bravo Company, 11th Signal Battalion, 1st Regiment, visited the National<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1351,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[17,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-weekend-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vdf.virginia.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vdf.virginia.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vdf.virginia.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vdf.virginia.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vdf.virginia.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1350"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vdf.virginia.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1357,"href":"https:\/\/vdf.virginia.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1350\/revisions\/1357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vdf.virginia.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vdf.virginia.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vdf.virginia.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vdf.virginia.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}