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PRESS RELEASE
Advisory No. 14-001
Oct. 6, 2014
SAN FRANCISCO — Fleet Week returns to the San Francisco Bay Area after a yearlong hiatus. The longtime maritime tradition returns to the city by the bay after being cancelled during 2013 due to federal budget cuts and sequestration. San Francisco Fleet Week festivities take place Oct. 6-13, and this year’s event looks to surpass the others in its 31-year history.
During a September press conference, San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee announced Fleet Week’s return.
“It’s been a long time in coming, but Fleet Week is back in San Francisco,” said Mayor Edwin M. Lee. “That’s a wonderful thing, and it kind of reminds of how important it is to renew the relationship with the uniformed services that are protecting our country.”
Approximately 500 Marines with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit and a large contingent of Navy sailors from San Diego will dock at Pier’s 30/ 32 and request permission to go ashore Monday.
The Marines are represented by Maj. Gen. Vincent Coglianese, commanding general, 1st Marine Logistics Group, who will serve as the senior Marine officer during the weeklong event.
San Francisco Fleet Week is the only Fleet Week in the nation to exercise humanitarian assistance and disaster relief tactical operations. After its return to the region in 2010, I MEF leaders including Maj. Gen. Melvin Spiese, former deputy commanding general, I MEF, sought opportunities to strengthen relationships with local, state, federal and Department of Defense emergency response agencies and enhance the framework of civil-military crises response planning in San Francisco.
“I think we’re ideally suited for crises just because we can do that,” said Spiese. “We have the ability to task organize even to the smallest of levels inside the force and put together the capabilities necessary to get out the door. We have tremendous logistics capabilities inside the force and those are highlighted in humanitarian assistance situations.”
If a major earthquake were to strike San Francisco, there would be no warning and “we would go from zero to a very complex catastrophe almost at the snap of a finger,” Spiese said. Disaster response personnel from Los Angeles to San Francisco and further north could quickly become overwhelmed. Roads and bridges would be impassable, cutting off cities and towns. Drinking water could run low. California National Guard soldiers might need to attend to their own families or damaged armory facilities, he continued.
Throughout the 2014 Fleet Week, Marines will showcase unique HA/DR capabilities including an MV-22 Osprey interoperability training exercise, urban search and rescue training aboard Treasure Island, static display of the Shock Trauma Platoon at San Francisco’s General Hospital, public tours of the Humanitarian Assistance Village at Marina Green, peer-to-peer medical exchanges and symposiums and a Senior Leaders Seminar focused on disaster response and lessons learned, including participation by Mayor Lee and a keynote address by Lt. Gen. Richard Mills, commanding general, Marine Forces Reserve.
While the focus of this year’s Fleet Week is HA/DR, fleet week also includes a series of traditional events including a habitat restoration project in the Presidio, visits to the San Francisco and Palo Alto Veteran’s Affairs hospitals, an interservice softball tournament at Moscone Field, Marine Military Working Dogs demonstrations during the 1st annual “Bark in the Park” at Jefferson Square Park, participation in the annual Italian Heritage Parade in historic North Beach and the dedication of the San Francisco Veteran’s Memorial.
The Bay Area will also get the opportunity to meet and hear the entertaining 1st Marine Division Band based out of Camp Pendleton during special events across the city including the Marines Memorial Club, Powell Street Cable Car turnaround, Pier 39, and Chestnut Street.
The return of the Navy’s Blue Angels is also highly anticipated and for the first time the USS America will commission in San Francisco during Fleet Week, a once in a lifetime event for the Bay Area.
Coordinating Instructions:
Media who are interested in attending Marine Corps events during Fleet Week must contact Marine Public Affairs Officer 1st Lt. Garth Langley via e-mail at: garthlangley7@yahoo.com or via phone at: (650) 787-5972.
Please provide your name, agency, and contact information when you RSVP. Vehicle access to some events may be restricted and live broadcasts may be difficult to facilitate.
| Date Taken: | 10.06.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 10.06.2014 07:35 |
| Story ID: | 144352 |
| Location: | SAN FRANCISCO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 732 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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