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IRTAs train Airmen, foster resiliency

  • Published
  • By Holly Logan-Arrington
  • Robins Public Affairs

Robins Air Force Base is bringing integrated resilience training assistants on board to train Airmen how to be resilient no matter what they face in life.

IRTAs are resilience soft-skill experts who assist master resilience trainers with fostering resilience across the installation.

Master Sgt. Kristal Lane, an Installation Resilience Program manager in Robins’ Integrated Resilience Program Office, said IRTAs are certified in violence prevention training and play a vital role in helping the Violence Prevention Integrator ensure that all Robins Department of Defense civilians and military members receive their annual by-law training for sexual assault and suicide prevention.

“IRTAs provide tools and guidance on managing daily challenges,” she said. “They seek to build and sustain a culture of comprehensively fit Airmen and families while fostering a climate of dignity, respect and connectedness across Robins.”

Additionally, Lane said IRTAs are briefed on the services and referral procedures for the base and community helping agencies and play an important role as an additional source to provide members with recommendations on which helping agency can best assist their specific concern.

The new super AFI 90-5001, Integrated Resilience, released in early 2019, identified two distinct training paths for resilience instructors and for violence prevention trainers; however, at Robins the decision was made to combine, or integrate, both skill sets by cross training them in resilience and violence prevention, to be identified as IRTAs.

Unit commanders and directors will choose their IRTAs from their units. Each will then send their nominees to a four-day local training for certification by the Violence Prevention Integrator and a Community Support coordinator.

“Once vetted by leadership, unit training managers can schedule IRTAs through the Training Support System,” Lane said.

Members must attend a four-day training course delivered by the Violence Prevention Integrator and Master Resilience Trainer and pass a teach-back on the last day.

Spouses can also become a certified IRTA, Lane said.

“Training will help key spouses identify specific challenges of assigned unit spouses and enable them to deliver the same training that is aimed at decreasing interpersonal and self-directed violence,” she said. 

Lane said Robins expects to have about 280 IRTAs across the base by the end of 2020.

Currently, a little more than 100 IRTAs have been trained.

Crandall Lewis, a Community Resilience coordinator in the 78th Integrated Resilience Program Office, has been an IRTA since early 2019. He has trained more than 2,000 military and civilian Airmen on violence prevention and resilience skill sets since becoming an IRTA.

“We train Airmen on the resilience skillsets and foster resiliency across the installation,” he said.

Lewis said IRTAs brief referral procedures for the base and community helping agencies.

IRTAs can be identified by a yellow lanyard around their neck labeled “IRTA.”

“When seeking help or assistance, look for the lanyard,” Lane said.