We’ve had stolen boats wash up on Ocean Beach, and even a driver who thought they could take their Lexus out for a float. But next week, we’ll have something even more unusual touching down on the shore – a Navy Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) vessel.
A LCAC is an amphibious military vehicle that provides a high speed, over-the-horizon transport of cargo, vehicles, and personnel from Navy ships at sea to beaches and other landing sites.
It’s all part of Fleet Week 2012, during which Bay Area First Responders and the U.S. Military meet, train together and discuss the latest lessons learned from recent Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response operations.
Next Wednesday, they’ll take part in a training exercise that simulates response to a major disaster in which emergency supplies need to get delivered to the city in the event other entries are unavailable:
Following a major disaster in San Francisco that makes roads and bridges impassible, Navy LCACs and other amphibious vehicles and aircraft could deliver critical personnel, supplies, and equipment from Navy ships at sea. This exercise will demonstrate the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities of the Navy and Marine Corps team to deploy the LCAC to deliver emergency supplies, in this case to a Marine Corps Shock Trauma Platoon (STP). The STP, which will also be demonstrated at Ocean Beach, has the unique capability to establish a mobile surgery center within hours of a major disaster to provide medical attention to those in need.
The event will begin at 9am with a Shock Trauma / Surgical & Resuscitation Platoon Display on the beach.
Then between 10:30am and 11am, the Navy LCAC will land on Ocean Beach to simulate delivery of emergency supplies in the case of a humanitarian assistance.
For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page. The exercise will take place on Ocean Beach near Fulton Street.
I expect some great photos from this event! 🙂 Special thanks to the anonymous reader who IM’d us with this info.
Sarah B.
OH, holy cow! That’s awesome!
It will be very, very loud. Bring earplugs if you got ’em.