Alpha 1-111th Field Artillery

02/07/2025

Welcome home 29th Division Artillery (DIVARTY)!
COL Shawn Talmadge, a former Thunder Battalion Commander and Officer, is the first Commander of the return of the 29th DIVARTY. Picture shows him giving the oath of enlistment to one of his newest Soldiers!

After nearly two decades, the Virginia Army National Guard celebrated the return of the 29th Division Artillery with the enlistment of Pvt. Tariq Rahaman in a ceremony held Jan. 14, 2025, at the

07/13/2024

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A Battery is 105MM towed light artillery battery based in Hanover, VA. Unit lineage directly tied to the famed Richmond Howitzers. We are a part of the 1-111th Fires Battalion, 29th Infantry Division.

04/19/2023

This past weekend was a special weekend for Lightning Battery. The unit conducted their Battery Change of Command ceremony, as outgoing Commander CPT Ignacio relinquished his Command and CPT Hermoso was welcomed back to the Battery and assumed Command.

The unit also congratulated and bid farewell to 1SG. B. Scott Powers for his 30 years of service and achieving a successful retirement. He was presented with the BTRY guidon shadowbox, which contained his rank and the Lightning deployment coin, a wooden Rudi sword, and a NCO Creed signed by the 19th CSM of the Army National Guard, CSM Raines, with a message thanking him for his service.

This weekend, Thunder also promoted LT Maggio to the rank of Captain. LT Maggio served as one of unit's platoon leaders and was a Battle Captain for the Lightning Forward for the past two years.

Lastly, as mentioned on a previous post. Thunder BN welcomes LTC Re*****on back to Battalion as the new Thunder Commander. LTC Re*****on was a former Lightning Battery Commander.

03/26/2023

This past Friday, the Virginia National Guard's training center and post was officially renamed from Fort Pickett to Fort Barefoot, in honor of COL Van T. Barfoot, WWII Medal of Honor recipient with strong Virginia ties. Top National Guard and Virginia Leadership were present for this occasion. See article.

03/04/2023

Congratulations to Lightning Battery's 2LT Kearns to his promotion to First Lieutenant and 1LT Panzica on his promotion to Captain. 1LT Kearns served as a Battle captain for the unit and CPT Panzica served as the Senior Platoon Leader and Executive Officer for the battery for the past two plus years. Lightning Battery also took this time to bid farewell to all the forward LTs as they will be soon transitioning to their next assignments.

12/30/2022

2022 Lightning Recap: these are only some, not all of the memories that were captured. From Ft. Sill to Iraq and back, and not forgetting our rear-D and Family Readiness Group.

12/25/2022

Lightning Battery wishes all Soldiers, families, and supporters, both at home and a far, a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Years!

12/10/2022

Go Army, Beat Navy! It's the annual Army vs Navy Game.

This past year, Lightning Battery mobilized and demobilized out ofthe home of 1st Armored Division at Ft. Bliss, TX. This year's Army Uniform is in tribute to the 1st Armored Division.