185th Air Refueling Wing Airmen take part in Northwest Arkansas Wellness 2023 IRT

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Tylon Chapman
  • 185th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
YELLVILLE, Ark. --  

Airmen of the 185th Air Refueling Wing participated in the joint-service Northwest Arkansas Wellness 2023 Innovative Readiness Training from July 8-21 in Mountain Home and Yellville, Arkansas.

Innovative Readiness Training, or IRT, is a Department of Defense joint-service program which allows service members to ply and hone their skills in healthcare, construction, transportation, and cybersecurity to increase deployment readiness.

185th Medical Group Airmen joined other service members from the Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, active-duty Air Force, Army, and Navy to provide no-cost medical services to the local northwest Arkansas community and complete recurring annual training requirements for medical certifications. 

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VIDEO | 03:48 | Northwest Arkansas Wellness IRT Mission video

The IRT provided primary medical care, dental services, optometry services, and veterinary services. 

Tech. Sgt. Shanah Van Beek, a 185th Med Group aerospace medical technician, said she enjoyed her first IRT in Puerto Rico in 2019, and that is why she came back for another IRT mission. 

“It’s a great way to see different communities, to see different people, to be able practice those skills that you don’t normally get to do at home,” said Van Beek. 

 Service members accomplished 22,000 training hours while providing over 1500 community members with $716,062 worth of services according to statistics compiled during the IRT.

For Senior Airman Chrissmiguel Hernandez, a 185th MG aerospace med tech, this was his first IRT mission. He said that it was a good opportunity to refresh his skills and that he was humbled to help and work with the community. 

“Its been nice seeing the happy faces here and helping the community,” said Hernandez.

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