San Francisco Fleet Week Commences with Annual DSCA Exercise

by Petty Officer 1st Class Asheka Lawrence-Reid

02 October 2023
SAN FRANCISCO - The annual Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) exercise is a unique opportunity for Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Coast Guard units to train together with San Francisco emergency management and first responder agencies in response to local disasters such as earthquakes and wildfires.

“This is how our city is going to interact with DoD and federal partners after an earthquake or after a major emergency and the objective for today is interoperable communications; the ability for our city departments to speak with the big Navy ships that are right there,” said Joe Reilly, Emergency Logistics Manager for Department of Emergency Management. “We’ve got satellite phones, different radio frequencies, and different types of cell push-to-talk options. It’s really showing that we can communicate from a city phone or a city radio to a DoD asset on the pier.”

Each year, the Fleet Week DSCA exercise is focused on a different facet of humanitarian assistance and disaster response, such as debris and emergency route clearing, transportation and logistics strategies, and supply chain resilience.

”We’re simulating Federal support to civil authorities,” said Marine Corps Maj. Dominic Chiaverotti, Deputy for Communications and Information Systems (N6) of Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 3 based out of Naval Base San Diego. "In this case, we are simulating an earthquake that the DoD is responding to. Every year at Fleet Week, we do some kind of DSCA drill and this year we’re focusing on communication. We have almost 40 different entities from state, local and federal elements that are rehearsing interoperable communications. In the event of a DSCA mission, the first few hours are critical to establish communications to coordinate support and rehearsing that needs to be done before that happens.”

San Francisco Fleet Week, now in its 42nd year, celebrates rich naval tradition in the Bay area and honors our nation's service members while facilitating annual disaster preparedness training between military and civilian responders.

It is San Francisco's largest annual civic sponsored event. It is a free event in the Fisherman's Wharf district that features the Blue Angles, a full air show over the San Francisco Bay, and ship tours all weekend long drawing thousands of people into the city.

SFFW is an opportunity for the American public to meet their Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard teams and experience America's sea services. During fleet week, service members participate in various community service events, showcase capabilities and equipment to the community, and enjoy the hospitality of the city and its surrounding areas.