JARRETT GOODMAN
Staff Writer
The United States military’s Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) program has recently hosted and provided healthcare services to the general public for the Operation Healthy Tennessee event at Rhea County Middle School and Bledsoe County High School.
IRT is an opportunity based training program which was established by the U.S. Department of Defense to help provide training for various emergency situations while members of the military are deployed to either different parts of the country, or abroad in other nations. Matt Eck, Public Affairs Officer (PAO) for Operation Healthy Tennessee explained how the medical clinic helps military personnel and trainees hone in their expertise providing assistance to the general public. In particular, they focus teaching readiness for helping those in need during a humanitarian crisis, whether caused by man or nature.
IRT personnel have hosted both clinics at Rhea County Middle School in Evansville as well as Bledsoe County High School in Pikeville, where patients seeking medical treatment and care are provided with medical assistance at no cost through vision, dental, and overall medical services. Eck explained for a community to hosts a clinic or event involving IRT, the community can go on the IRT’s official website and apply for their services for the area. And if selected and willing to provide support for all personnel involved, an IRT service program can be hosted within the selected community. This was the third time in the span of four years that the clinics were hosted within the surrounding region.
Community support also played an integral role, as Eck stated many residents came together to provide supplies and support to all involved during the training program, including providing food, water, as well as providing residency at both schools for the two weeks of time the clinics were hosted. Full-service teams from IRT were also on-site to help provide meals to all staff who are part of the clinics
“We are to save costs and we also live in the schools for these two weeks. So there’s certain services that we need, such as washer and dryers and different things. And the communities at both sites have provided that for us,” explained Eck.
Various medical organizations have also stationed themselves within the clinics to promote the varied services they offer, such as Volunteer Behavioral Health and Cempa Community Pharmacy. Cempa Community Pharmacy is a newly established facility by Cempa Community Care out of Chattanooga, who provides various services regarding medications.
All involved further helped into culminating a successful program for this year’s Operation Healthy Tennessee Mission in 2025 in terms of both service to the general public, as well as providing further training for the men and women in service of the nation’s military.
Additional Photos by 1st Lt. Christopher Sequeira
