Naval Station Mayport and Naval Air Station Jacksonville will be taking part in a natural disaster preparedness exercise from Monday through April 26 in preparation for hurricane season.
The annual training exercise at bases along the Southeast Atlantic region, called Hurricane Exercise/Citadel Gale 2019, is designed to show 11,000 to 12,000 sailors, employees and Navy families how to prepare and respond should a major storm threaten.
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Training will cover logistics in a variety of hurricane-related scenarios -- from quickly navigating ships and aircraft out of the base to knowing where family and pets will be going in case of a mandatory evacuation.
Naval Station Mayport Emergency Manager Steve Millican told News4Jax on Monday that there's about a one-third turnover of personnel every year, so sharing a wealth of knowledge annually helps keep families prepared and calm.
"Irma was two years ago. Matthew was three years ago. So we have had a lot of corporate knowledge that has already transferred," Millican said. "Every year is the reminder of this is how we do things, this is what we need for you to do to keep yourself, your family safe and to keep your facilities squared away."
National hurricane season begins June 1 and goes through Nov. 30.