RICHMOND, Va.  –  

The Virginia National Guard’s Staunton-based 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team will be the first Army National Guard brigade to test and evaluate a prototype task organization for a mobile brigade combat team during their 21-day eXportable Combat Training Capability rotation in June 2025 at Fort Barfoot, Virginia. The MBCT concept is part of the U.S. Army’s transformation initiative with the goal of making units more agile and lethal.

Virginia National Guard Soldiers assigned to the Bedford-based Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team conduct a movement to contact situational training lane June 9, 2025, at Fort Barfoot, Virginia. The 116th is the first Army National Guard brigade to test a prototype task organization for a mobile brigade combat team, and it will be evaluated during a 21-day eXportable Combat Training Capability rotation. The MBCT concept is part of the U.S. Army’s transformation initiative with the goal of making units more agile and lethal. (U.S. National Guard phtoo by Cotton Puryear)

“The 116th has an incredible opportunity to be at the forefront of the Army’s transformation initiative, and I am confident the Soldiers of the Normandy Brigade will rise to the occasion,” said Col. Jared Lake, commander of the 116th. “There are still many variables in the transformation process, but our Soldiers are going to focus on their core warfighting skills that will make us a more ready and lethal organization by the end of XCTC.”

XCTC is a series of field training exercises simulating realistic combat scenarios including live fire, situational training lanes and force on force with a dedicated opposing force intended to increase the skills and readiness of National Guard units. 

The 116th will be configured as the MBCT during the XCTC rotation, and it will be an opportunity to continue testing and evaluating the proposed force structure, Lake said.

The mobile brigade combat team force structure focuses on three infantry battalions with organic logistics support and the addition of a multi-purpose company in each battalion and a multi-functional reconnaissance company in the brigade.

Battalion scout, mortar and assault platoons move to a battalion MPC to provide ground and aerial reconnaissance, indirect fire support, launched effects, counter unmanned aerial systems and deception capabilities to fix and attrit enemy forces that allows for infantry companies to close with and destroy the enemy.

The MFRC provides reconnaissance and surveillance with the brigade deep area to enable targeting and provide timely, accurate reporting of enemy activity, detect and target enemy high payoff targets and shape the brigade deep area to enable operations.

The MPCs and MFRC will be employed along with the 116th’s three infantry battalions during the culminating field training exercise near the end of the XCTC rotation.

The cavalry squadron and the brigade engineer battalion are not a part of the prototype MBCT task organization. Future force structure for those organizations is still being analyzed at the U.S. Army level. Soldiers assigned to those units will still focus on honing their MOS-specific skills during XCTC.

The field artillery battalion will conduct live fire during XCTC in addition to other MOS-specific training. Long term, the artillery battalion will align under the 29th Division Artillery as that force structure comes online in the coming years.

A key piece of equipment for the MBCT is the infantry squad vehicle designed to transport infantry squads across the battlefield. The 116th has not fielded the ISVs, but they will still be able to train on employing the new MBCT formations with their existing equipment.

The official 116th IBCT force structure has not changed and is not scheduled to change until the Army validates and finalizes the new MBCT structure, and then approves that change for the 116th IBCT, Lake said. This process is anticipated to occur over the next three years. 

“Every Soldier still has a home in the 116th IBCT and every opportunity to continue their service with the Virginia Army National Guard,” he said. 

Lake explained that while some Soldiers may be attached to other units for XCTC, there are no plans for permanent reassignments until the new official force structure is approved. Some Soldiers may get the opportunity to change military occupational speciality and career field, but most of Soldiers will not need to change MOS.

The Army’s 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team was first mobile brigade combat team, and they conducted a Joint Readiness Training Center rotation to experiment, test and collect Soldier feedback on the MBCT concept in July 2024 at Fort Johnson, Louisiana.

By Cotton Puryear | Virginia National Guard Public Affairs