“These training evolutions are a great way to showcase the Navy-Marine Corps team’s capability of bringing help to those in need after a natural disaster,” U.S. Navy Captain Dennis Jacko, the commanding officer of the Anchorage, said in a statement . “Exercises and training like this helps prepare our Sailors and local government agencies to work together seemlessly so that in the event of an earthquake or tsunami, we are ready to help in any capacity required. Amphibious ships are a key component of this capability, with tremendous cargo and medical facilities that are flexible enough to provide support anywhere along the coast.”

The paired training exercises, which focused on what is officially known as the Defense Support to Civil Authorities (DSCA) mission, occurred on June 3, 2019 . Pictures and video show the two hovercraft LCACs leaving the well deck of the San Antonio-class landing platform dock amphibious ship USS Anchorage and bringing ashore various vehicles, including Marine Corps 5-ton Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) trucks, pickups, and front end loaders. Members of the Navy's Beachmaster Unit One (BMU-1), based at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in California, were on hand to manage activities on the beach and direct the landing craft to and from their assigned drop off points.

A few days ago, U.S. Navy Landing Craft Air Cushions , or LCACs, roared onto Sunset Beach in Warrenton, Oregon and across the sand at Oak Harbor, Washington, offloading trucks, construction equipment, and other cargo, as well as Sailors, Marines, and other personnel. But the force wasn't conducting a mock amphibious assault. It was training to respond to a potential natural disaster that could, and by most predictions would, be on a scale the United States hasn't seen in modern times—a major Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake event , often referred to as "the big one."

The exercise also involved elements of the Oregon National Guard and Clatsop County Emergency Management. In conjunction with the DSCA exercises on the beaches, the Oregon Air National Guard also conducted an exercise called Cascadia Airlift, involving the movement of vehicles, cargo, and personnel via a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, also as part of a mock disaster relief mission. The C-130 flew low over the Oregon beach as part of a mock airdrop, as well. But when it comes to landing on beaches, the LCACs offer significant benefits over traditional shallow-draft boat-type landing craft, including better speed and "over the beach" mobility. Hovercrafts, in general, can also cross very shallow water and conduct operations on soft ground, such as marshes and swamps, which also helps them get into areas that may be inaccessible to other boats. Most importantly, they can access totally unimproved beaches and rapidly deliver massive loads ashore—something that would be absolutely critical if the big one hit the Pacific Northwest.

Oregon National Guard

Within minutes of a major movement along the Juan de Fuca and Pacific tectonic plates, a massive tsunami would come roaring ashore across huge stretches of Oregon and Washington coastline. The small beach towns already devastated by the powerful quake that would measure around a nine on the Richter Scale would be slammed with a massive wall of water rising up to 100 feet high.

Official Document Take this tsunami evacuation map of the popular Seaside and Gearhart vacation communities in Oregon. A major Cascadia Subduction Zone event would inundate basically everything within minutes of the initial quake ending. Evacuation locations are distant and require most of the population to cross bridges that will probably be destroyed by the quake itself. The reality is loss of life and destruction of infrastructure and property along the Oregon coast will be extreme.

The level of destruction we are talking about here in small communities with limited resources is largely unfathomable. Roads that snake through the coastal mountain ranges will be unpassable for days, weeks, and even months. Bridges and overpasses will be dropped all over the states and especially along and near the coast. Channels will be unpassable and docks will be destroyed. This leaves few options for evacuating citizens and conveying absolutely essential supplies in large quantities to devastated coastal locales. The Navy's mighty LCACs and the amphibious ships that tote them around are Oregon and Washington's best potential lifeline during what would be both states' darkest hour.

USN An LCAC unloads vehicles in Oak Harbor, Washington.

This is largely what's behind these exercises. The region is well overdue for this horrible event and predictions keep getting worse as to what it will actually look like when it occurs as well as its protracted aftermath. So, seeing the military getting serious about the reality that this emergency call will come sometime in the future and only it really has the capacity to make large-scale and rapid impacts when it comes to saving lives and beginning a recovery effort that will take place over a huge stretch of territory where infrastructure will be completely obliterated, is very much a good thing. In fact, it's baffling that the LCACs haven't arrived on Oregon and Washington shores for this type of training years ago. As for the LCAC itself, the Navy first began using the LCAC in 1986. The service has been slowly putting the hovercrafts through a Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) since 2001. As of December 2018, 64 had gone through the SLEP process, which involves a major structural overhaul, improved corrosion resistance, upgraded engines for more reliable operation in very hot weather, and improved communications, navigation, and other mission systems. Eight more of the hovercrafts still needed the update.

USN A Marine Corps MTVR wrecker truck drives off an LCAC in Oak Harbor, Washington.