NORWICH – Chenango County legislators, in conjunction with the Southern Tier East Regional Planning Development and the United States Department of Defense, are aiming to bring a large-scale military training exercise to Chenango County that could benefit thousands of residents with free medical, healthcare and human services.

Southern Tier East Regional Planning Development (STE) has filed an application to the U.S. Department of Defense for an Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) site to be located within Chenango County. IRT provides real world training opportunities for U.S. service units to prepare them for wartime missions while simultaneously supporting the needs of underserved communities.

Designation of an IRT site in Chenango County would bring an estimated 150 military personnel to the area for training in various fields of human service that would be provided to all community residents free of charge. The purpose, explained STE Director Eric Miller, is to improve military readiness while also meeting some of the community’s most urgent civil needs, including access to basic health care, dental care and veterinary assistance.

Although the STE application to the Department of Defense proposes an IRT site in Chenango County in 2015, local officials say the application may be expedited, potentially bringing IRT training to the region as early as summer, 2014. The IRT site would also be immediately accessible to residents of surrounding Broome, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego and Tioga counties.