Cal Maritime Partners With Maritime, Defense, And Homeland Security Organizations

Consortium will Focus on Setting Statewide standards for Maritime Security Education and Training

Officials from The California Maritime Academy (Cal Maritime), a campus of The California State University, and leaders from the state's maritime, defense, and homeland security organizations met today on the Cal Maritime campus to sign an agreement to work together to set statewide standards for homeland security exercises, evaluation, education, and training. Named the Consortium for Maritime Security Exercises and Training, the group is the first California consortium to address statewide maritime security standards.

The consortium will serve as a forum to ensure that California ports, harbors, and other elements of the maritime transportation system - including railroads, highways, and other facilities and services involved in moving freight to and from our nation's harbors - are afforded the opportunities to train and exercise in order to meet domestic preparedness responsibilities in a manner that will set a national standard for excellence.

Charter members include: Cal Maritime, California Marine and Intermodal Transportation System Advisory Council (CALMITSAC), California Military Department, Irvine Valley College, Joint Interagency Training Center-West (JITC-W), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and the US Navy Center for Asymmetric Warfare (CAW). In addition, the Governor's Office of Homeland Security (OHS) is serving as a member of the consortium in an advisory role.

"We are pleased to partner with such a distinguished group of maritime, defense, and homeland security organizations in California on this important issue," said Bill Eisenhardt, president of Cal Maritime. "As the only degree-granting maritime academy serving the Pacific Rim, we are committed to making all facets of the region's maritime transportation system safer. The safety of our graduates and future graduates depends on it, and we take that very seriously."

The consortium hopes that their work will ultimately be shared with Department of Homeland Security agencies in other states, setting a national precedence for cooperation on homeland security issues.

"The collaboration between the consortium partners will serve as an incredible resource within the fields of homeland security training exercises and education designed to make our seaports and our maritime industry prepared and secured," said Norman Fassler-Katz, senior consultant for the Select Committee on California Ports, who represented CALMITSAC at the signing ceremony. "This is yet another opportunity for public and private sectors to join other efforts of collaboration to assist in meeting the challenges facing the movement of goods, which is so necessary to the vitality of our state."

The mission of the group consists of six primary tenets:

• Encourage cooperation between institutions
• Serve as a forum for information sharing on homeland security issues and develop a consensus for action
• Promote and facilitate standardized maritime transportation system homeland security training and exercises
• Encourage and facilitate maritime transportation system homeland security- related research and development
• Promote, encourage, and deliver appropriate educational courses to improve domestic preparedness awareness and response
• Cooperate with and support United States Department of Homeland Security in other states by providing templates and lessons learned