PONCE, Puerto Rico --
During the month of May Airmen from the Illinois Air National Guard are participating in Innovative readiness
training exercise aimed at providing no cost medical care to civilians in Puerto Rico.
The goal of the IRT program is to provide realistic training while at the same time administering no cost medical
care for medically underserved people in Puerto Rico.
Airmen from the Illinois Air National Guardʼs 183d Wing are in the U.S. territory during a two week medical exercise
conducted jointly with several other Guard and Reserve medical units from around the nation. Airmen from the
183d Wing are providing food service support in six different locations for the training exercise.
Clinicians have set up areas to perform medical examinations as well as dental and optometry care in community
centers of six different communities. The clinics are set up in the Puerto Rican communities of Ponce, Jayuya,
Maricao, Mayagüez, Yauco and Lares.
The Innovative Readiness Training was originally created in 1992 as a way to provide realistic training in a joint
environment in order to prepare U.S. military members to perform similar duties during a crisis at home or abroad.
During their time in Puerto Rico, the medical and support teams have been performing hands-on, missionessential
training while simultaneously providing health care to communities around the island.
Events that are a part of the reediness training program like the one in Puerto Rico also aim to provide critical link
between the military and members of the civilian community where the services are being provided.