National Preparedness Month: A Time to Remember, a Time to Prepare

The Navy is a strong presence in San Diego County so in times of emergency, it comes as no surprise that we work hand in hand to deal with any regional crisis. The recent blackout underscored that cooperation. The Navy took its ships in port off the local power grid until power was restored to millions of residents in the County.

As a result of this and many other examples of cooperation, Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Horn presented the National Preparedness Month Proclamation to Navy Region Southwest (NRSW) for its leadership and continued commitment to the County of San Diego. NRSW Chief of Staff Captain Markham Rich and NRSW Director of Operations Joe Stuyvesant accepted the proclamation during the September 13 board meeting. Office of Emergency Services Interim Director Herman Reddick took part in the presentation. National Preparedness Month commemorates the tragic events of 9/11 and is observed every September. In recognition of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, this year’s theme for National Preparedness Month is A Time to Remember, a Time to Prepare.

“When something like that happens, it doesn’t just happen to one entity, the Navy or the County. We have to work together,” said Stuyvesant.  “No one can deal with emergencies in isolation,” said Captain Rich, “Everybody has resource challenges and we lean heavily on county and state emergency providers and hope they do the same for us.” 

The Navy provided critical firefighting personnel and equipment during the 2007 wildfires and participates in local preparedness exercises. In turn, NRSW established a seat for County Office of Emergency Services staff members at its Regional Operations Center.