Army to Transform IRR

Individual Warriors (IWs) will be the new label for soldiers serving in the Army’s Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). The new name is designed to lead to a cultural shift away from the unstructured rolls of IRRs to a cohesive group of soldiers who are trained, aware, and ready to augment Army missions when called upon. Presently the Army’s IRR carries more than 100,000 officers and enlisted members on the rolls, representing more than 200 skills ranging from combat arms and support to combat-service support specialties. That could be reduced to 60,000 ready and available soldiers, say officials. The Army will institute an annual screening and training program for all assigned IWs who align with the Army Force Generation model – Reset/Train; Ready; Available. This program will be developed and carried out in order to maintain positive contact, administer refresher training as individual skills degrade and ensure deployable readiness.