New cabins for a special needs children’s camp. An improved stream habitat. Ensured cybersecurity protection. These represent diverse training opportunities executed by Servicemembers despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

IRT partnerships begin with two elements: a community application and a corresponding military application. This month, we take a look at the military application process.

Long after missions end, IRT delivers lasting benefits to American communities and Servicemembers alike. The program’s value is rooted in its partnerships with U.S. communities.

Amid a worldwide crisis, the IRT Medical Consumables Site (MCS) staff, located at Fort Dix, NJ, seized the initiative to contribute to relief efforts.

This year, IRT will converge community partners to same geographical area to bring valuable services to Mississippi - Camp Kamassa with Mississippi’s Toughest Kids Foundation and Mississippi Medical with Delta Regional Authority.

While thousands of Servicemembers receive critical training through participation in missions, an agile team of four Soldiers and seven Airmen  obtains specialized training through the management and delivery of medical, civil engineering (CE), and food service assets.

From April 1 through September 15, 2019, Navy Reservist provided engineering support to residents in the Navajo Community in New Mexico for the 22nd consecutive year.

The the Army Reserve will conducted medical IRT missions in North Dakota and California, which will broght services to American Indians while providing critical hands-on military training in a real world environment.

From July 9 through July 22, Service Members   joined Southern Tier 8, a New York regional planning agency, to deliver dental, optometry, and veterinary care to rural communities in upstate New York.

From March 4 through July 28, 2019 Service Members from units across the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserves, U.S. Air Force Reserve, and the Air National Guard  continued work begun in 2018 to support the construction of Camp Kamassa.

U.S. Marine have begun an IRT mission in partnership with the Catalina Island Conservancy to make crticial improvements to Catalina Island’s 75 year old runway.

FY2019 is off to a magnificent start! IRT mission Initial Planning Meetings (IPMs) are being held across the country, uniting participating military branches of service with their respective community partners at selected mission locations.

In FY 2019, the IRT program will conduct 24 training missions (10 construction, 8 medical, and 6 other) across 17 states and territories. The majority of FY 2019 missions are joint service, which offers the greatest training value to participating members.

More than 100 participants attended the 2018 IRT Joint Workshop for Operational Mission Planners in Tysons Corner, VA from September 18 – 20.

Approximately 200 Air National Guardsmen and Marine Corps Reservists spent the months of May and June partnering with Helemano Plantation, a not-forprofit organization that provides recreational and residential support to the elderly and individuals with developmental disabilities.

Seven congressional staffers attended a site visit to Project Quintana, a partnership with Habitat for Humanity, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 19.

More than 50 Active Duty and Army Reserve Soldiers joined the Delta Regional Authority and other community partners, June 18-27, to lead South East Illinois IRT, a medical Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) mission in Harrisburg, IL.

The 75th Combat Support Hospital, an Army Reserve unit based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, led a medical IRT mission with participation from from all branches of the military (Active Duty Army, Army Reserve, Active Duty Navy, Navy Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard) in Monroeville and Thomasville, Alabama May 26-June 8, 2018.

The Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) program began construction of Camp Kamassa in April. During this multi-year mission, the IRT program will build the first special needs camp in Crystal Springs, Mississippi, for the Mississippi’s Toughest Kids (MTK) Foundation.

The Department of Defense and the Savannah, Georgia community prepared for an exciting Medical IRT mission, Operation Empower Health that provided no-cost medical services to the community from 10 – 18 May 2018.