Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Cory Asato | 160805-N-OO032-010 SEATTLE, Wash. (Aug. 5, 2016) – Rear Adm. Russell Allen (left), a...... read more read more
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SEATTLE, Wash. – The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) held a conference including local representatives from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Washington State National Guard, federal and state emergency service agencies to indulge on the success from recent DSCA exercises, Aug. 5.
The DSCA event is about "supporting local authorities," said Capt. Michael Perkow, Navy Emergency Preparedness Officer for Navy Region Northwest and a firefighter for Seattle Fire Department. "We don't do anything unless we're asked.”
“You can't surge trust,” said Rear Adm. Russell Allen, a native of Southern Illinois, and Deputy Commander, U.S. Third Fleet, during his opening remarks. "This isn't make-believe, what we're practicing here … we're not ever going to stop earthquakes or tsunamis ... but you can be more ready.”
A recent exercise completed is Joint Logistics Over-The-Shore (JLOTS), which tested a joint-service military capability to transport assets without a fixed port.
“We actually began planning about a year ahead for Cascadia Rising,” said Ken Neafcy, of the Seattle office of emergency management. “We begin to develop processes and use the exercise to assess those processes, in this case, following a major earthquake.”
JLOTS is part of a much larger scale exercise, Cascadia Rising, which simulates the response and effectiveness of local federal and state agencies in a the event of a catastrophic earthquake, with little to no notice, happening along the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Cascadia Rising was a focal point of discussion at the conference.
“Coordination and making connections with existing civilian counterparts is key to that end,” said Perkow. Being here to plan ahead “is the military's part of it."
The DSCA mission is to “Lead the Security Cooperation Community (SCC) in developing and executing innovative security cooperation solutions that support mutual U.S. and partner interests,” while they “enable a whole-of-government effort to build and maintain networks of relationships that achieve U.S. national security goals,” remains their vision according to their website.
“This is a great opportunity for all various emergency management leadership to [collaborate] and prepare agencies’ response for natural disasters,” said Allen.
The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a "megathrust" dipping fault that stretches from Northern Vancouver Island to Cape Mendocino California. It separates the Juan de Fuca and North America plates, spanning more than 600 miles. Megathrust earthquakes force one tectonic plate under another and can exceed a moment magnitude of more than 9.0.
"It's all about supporting the locals, because that's where the disaster is at,” said Brig. Gen. Patrick J. Doherty, Iowa State University alumnus and Commander, 82nd Training Wing, Sheppard Air Force Base.
For more information on DSCA, vist: http://www.dsca.mil.
| Date Taken: | 08.05.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.06.2016 00:50 |
| Story ID: | 206279 |
| Location: | SEATTLE, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 211 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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