Photo By Maj. William Carraway | The Georgia Army National Guard conducts Soldier Readiness Processing for nearly 6,600 Soldiers at its 12-building readiness site on the Georgia Garrison Training Center at Fort Stewart, Ga. see less
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Ga. ARNG Achieves High Medical Readiness through Comprehensive Soldier Readiness Processing
The Georgia Army National Guard has achieved the second highest medical and dental readiness rating among the 54 states and territories after more than 6,600 of its Soldiers completed Soldier Readiness Processing in nineteen days. This effort was the culmination of planning by the Ga. ARNG personnel office designed to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and increase readiness.
“The Ga. ARNG has clearly demonstrated a commitment to getting after the medical and dental readiness of its Soldiers,” noted Col. N.I. Okpokwasili, Chief Surgeon of the Army National Guard.
Okpokwasili credited Georgia’s comprehensive SRP for its success, noting that the process is not limited to medical and dental readiness.
“They include the S1, S3, and other elements to truly ensure when their Soldiers finish the process, they are as good to go as they can be.”
The SRP is a program to qualify Soldiers for deployment. Georgia’s SRP features a comprehensive medical examination and the completion of financial and administrative requirements that all Soldiers are required to complete annually. It is the product of nearly ten years of innovation and improvement.
In 2018, the Ga. ARNG personnel directorate, or G-1, began looking for ways to improve the way it delivered the SRP to the more than 11,000 Citizen Soldiers in the state. At that time, The Georgia Medical Detachment conducted four readiness events per month. This process was unsustainable from a manpower perspective as Soldiers were apt to be missing from unit formations any given month. Additionally, the former process did not allow the G-1 to predict or project medical readiness.
The G-1 launched a five-year pilot program in 2018 aimed at achieving and maintaining a consistently high readiness level throughout the year while reducing the time demand on Soldiers. A key element of the plan was to ensure all Soldiers were processed within a one-month window during annual training in the summer. Newly enlisted Soldiers in the Recruit Sustainment Program also participate in SRP before they are handed off to their units, so leaders are given a mission-ready Soldiers from day one of assignment. Soldiers unable to attend the annual event are processed at smaller quarterly SRP events.
To facilitate the approach, the Ga. ARNG constructed and renovated ten buildings at the Land Dominance Center on Fort Stewart, Georgia, to provide dedicated facilities for the SRP. The SRP site encompassed 23 readiness stations.
Medical readiness is not the only function of the SRP. Soldiers also receive updates on their benefits, review their personnel files, and have the opportunity to discuss questions with subject matter experts in finance, legal, and career counseling. Soldiers meet with retention and financial counselors who explain the value of a military retirement and visit with representatives of the Family Services Branch who provide employment opportunities with civilian employers.
Over the course of the five-year pilot program the improved SRP was a tremendous success. Whereas before the SRP improvements it might take a Soldier two to three days to complete SRP, in 2026, Soldiers were completing the process in two to four hours.
The SRP in Georgia continues to evolve. Now with 12 buildings, 28 stations, and an automated scheduling system, the SRP has further increased capacity for Soldier readiness. The Ga. ARNG is able to secure medical providers one year in advance at reduced cost.
Readiness is critical for a unit to achieve its mission whether at home or overseas as noted by Col. Okpokwasili.
“It is made even more important with the increase of no-notice and short-notice activations of the ARNG by the current administration. (The Ga. ARNG) is ensuring that for T32 missions, T10 missions and anywhere in between, its soldiers are ready to answer the nation’s call to duty.”
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