With more than 700 Marines embarked, the USS Bonhomme Richard was the centerpiece for this year’s Senior Leader Seminar held the fi rst two days of Fleet Week.
Fleet Week 2011 took advantage of the Naval Services’ presence in San Francisco to harness their expertise in providing Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Response. This was intended to prepare for the inevitable catastrophic earthquake that will one day hit the Bay Area. The world’s most capable humanitarian assistance organization is the United States military. It consistently provides humanitarian relief around the globe, saving thousands of lives in natural disasters such as the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, last year’s earthquake in Haiti, and this year’s earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown in Japan.
With all this military expertise coming to San Francisco for Fleet Week, the Fleet Week Association organized a series of events to capitalize on the opportunity. These included a two-day Senior Leader Seminar on disaster preparedness aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard as well as two invaluable cross-training activities: The San Francisco Fire Department provided Urban Search and Rescue Training for Marines and sailors; and the Navy, in return, trained the fi refi ghters in shipboard fi refi ghting.
The seminar kicked off with an executive summary of a Table Top Exercise conducted a month before on Medical Surge. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, named elected offi cial of the year in 2006 for the way he led Mississippi’s relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina, gave the keynote address for the Senior Leader Seminar. Panel discussions included: (1) the role of private industry in disasters; (2) elected offi cials discussing regional cooperation; and (3) the role of social media in disasters, as moderated by Hari Sreenivasan of the PBS News Hour.
On Saturday of Fleet Week, fi ve more 3rd
Fleet US Navy
ships, led by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, participated in the Parade of Ships, along with two US Coast Guard ships, four Canadian Ships and the SS Jeremiah O’Brien. The public was able to experience a Humanitarian Assistance Village on the Marina Green where a Fleet Hospital and reverse osmosis water purifi cation units were set up to demonstrate the military’s capabilities.
The Blue Angels were here, along with the Canadian Snowbirds, a B-2 Bomber, a MV-22 Osprey, a F/A-18 Super Hornet plus an array of other aircraft to put on the largest air show in North America. Events for the public included band concerts, ships tours, and the halftime show at the 49er game. A particularly inspiring event was held in Golden Gate Park, where the 1st
Marine Division
Band guided six Bay Area high school bands through a “Band Challenge”. Cash prizes went to each band. One band director commented “Thank you for saving music in my high school.”
The sailors, Marines and Coasties organized several community projects, including cleaning the San Francisco Zoo, Baker Beach and along the Marin Headlands. They also paid visits to the children’s ward at San Francisco General Hospital, and to the Veterans at the San Francisco and Palo Alto VA Medical Centers.
San Francisco Fleet Week 2011 was a resounding success. The Bay Area fi rst responder organizations and the Naval services now know each other’s capabilities. As a result, they are better prepared to work in close cooperation to deal with any major disaster that may befall the Bay Area.
10 Crossroads Winter 2011-12
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