116th Infantry Regiment

116th Brigade Combat Team
Brigade shoulder patch (No longer worn, replaced by 29th Infantry Division patch)
Active	1975 – present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Role	Infantry
Part of	29th Infantry Division
Brigade Headquarters	Staunton, VA
Nickname(s)	Stonewall Brigade
Motto(s)	Ever Forward {116th Infantry}
Colors	Blue and Gray
Engagements	American Revolutionary War War of 1812 Mexican-American War American Civil War World War I World War II Operation Joint Forge Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Iraqi Freedom Operation New Dawn

The 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team was formerly known as the 1st Brigade, 29th Infantry Division. It is currently assigned to the Virginia Army National Guard. The brigade is headquartered in Staunton, Virginia, at the Thomas Howie Memorial Armory.

1st Brigade, 29th Infantry Division, was formed in 1963. It served until 1968. In 1975 it was reformed as the 116th Infantry Brigade, and carried on under that name until 1986. In 1986 it became, once again, 1st Brigade, 29th Infantry Division. (McGrath, "The Brigade", 193.) During the army's reorganization into Brigade Combat Teams, 1st Brigade, 29th Division again became 116th Brigade, this time as a Brigade Combat Team.

On 1 November 2002, the 2nd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment was mobilized for deployment to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to take part in Operation Enduring Freedom. This marked the first mobilization of a battalion of the 29th Infantry Division since World War II. The unit provided security of the base and Camp Delta, the detainee operations camp.

On 1 March 2004, the 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment was mobilized for deployment to Afghanistan to take part in Operation Enduring Freedom. Members of the battalion reported to armories around Virginia and began arriving at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan on 15 July 2004. They were quickly engaged in operations. The battalion conducted combat operations in Ghazni and SECFOR operations at Bagram Airfield. Numerous slice elements were placed under the operational control of the battalion. The newly formed task force assumed the name of the beaches the regiment stormed more than 60 years prior – Normandy. During the deployment two 116th Infantry soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb, the first Virginia National Guard soldiers to die in combat since World War II. The battalion returned to the United States in July 2005.