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HURREX Citadel Gale 14 Exercise Begins May 5

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS140430-24
Release Date: 4/30/2014 3:54:00 PM

From Commander, Navy Installations Command Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) and U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFF) will jointly conduct the annual hurricane preparedness exercise, HURREX/Citadel Gale 2014, from May 5 - 15 in preparation for the upcoming Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean area hurricane season.

The purpose of HURREX/Citadel Gale 2014 is to prepare the Navy to respond to weather threats to U.S. coastal regions, and to maintain the ability to deploy forces even under the most adverse weather conditions. Tropical storms have the potential can cause great damage to areas they pass over, and the Navy prepares every year to mitigate that damage.

'HURREX/Citadel Gale 2014 provides Navy Regions and Installations the opportunity to exercise and assess their ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from the threat of a natural disaster, as well as validate Memorandums of Understanding/Agreements with non-federal government partner agencies.' said Bill Clark, CNIC Exercise Program manager.

This year's exercise will consist of two simulated tropical cyclones that will develop and intensify to hurricane strength, and will threaten the Eastern Coast of the U.S., the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean coastal regions. All Navy commands with personnel in NRMA, NDW, and NRSE, ashore and afloat, in port and underway, will participate, to include reviewing and exercising heavy weather instructions and procedures and accounting for Sailors and Navy families in the affected regions through the Navy Family Accountability and Assessment System (NFAAS). Forward deployed units will not participate in the exercise tracking and warning phase.

For exercise preparation, Region Commanders, senior officers present afloat (SOPAs), and SOPA administrators will review disaster preparedness plans and conduct individual and team training. Region Commanders will also conduct pre-exercise and pre-tropical cyclone season discussions with disaster preparedness officers of subordinate commands to address exercise scenarios, emergency plans, and recovery efforts.

The destruction and devastation caused by storms such as Hurricanes Sandy, Irene, and Katrina reinforce the need for proper training and preparedness prior to the threat of a real world natural disaster. There were 13 named storms in 2013, and with the onset of the Atlantic hurricane season June 1, 2014, the Navy remains committed t