Citywide/CERT Deployment Exercise

Twice each year, Portland NET teams participate in a Citywide Deployment Exercise (CDE). This helps us improve our skills, make important revisions to our Operations & Communications Plans, and inform our training plans.

Typically, Team Leaders may register their teams first, then individual volunteers sign up to participate at one of the neighborhood sites. Registration announcements are sent in PBEM Volunteer Bulletin emails.

Donate to Support the Citywide Deployment Exercises

These exercises were created and orchestrated by NET volunteers. If you have questions or suggestions, or if you’d like to be part of the next planning committee, email NETDeploymentExercise@gmail.com.

Next Citywide Deployment Exercise

Date and Time

Fall CDE date TBA

Registration

Team registration will open in late summer 2026. If you have questions please send an email to netdeploymentexercise@gmail.com

Preparation

Recordings of NET Training Sessions Relevant to Deployment Exercise

• Hotwash of May 2026 CD, May 10, 2027
• Management of Spontaneous Untrained Volunteers (SUVs), May 13, 2026
• Size-Up, April 8, 2026.
• NET Citywide Deployment Exercise, November 2025 Training Preparation Series
• Light Search and Rescue Operations — New in February 2024
• The Roles of the ITL, Scribe, FRS Radio Lead and Zoom Tips
• The Role of the Incident Team Leader
• FRS Radio Lead, Message Handling and A Radio Play In One Act
• Integrating FRS/GMRS and Amateur Radio Communications
• Management of SUVs (Spontaneous Untrained Volunteers)
• Deployment Shift Management
• Personnel Accountability
• Triage Site Management
• Using NET ICS Forms in the Field
• Setting Up a Medical Treatment Area
• [1]

Forms:

• Video: Using Form 1B — Individual Situation Report *
• Video: Using Form 1C — Team Situation Report *
• Written Instructions on above Forms
• Link to all approved NET Forms

* These videos refer to the forms as experimental because they were when the videos were created in 2019. They were approved by PBEM during the summer of 2022.

Skill Refreshers

Read these skill refreshers before the exercise.

• ICS Structure Refresher
• ICS Forms Refresher
• Volunteer Management Refresher

Cheat Sheets

Sometimes our brains get a little mushy when we’re presented with a high-stress situation (like a major earthquake). Keep these handy cheat sheets in your pack to help you remember your training!

• Amateur Radio Voice Procedure Cheat
• FRS Radio Voice Procedure Cheat
• ICS Forms Cheat
• ICS Staffing Recommendations Cheat
• Mission Sequence Cheat
• Phonetic Alphabet Cheat
• Triage Cheat
• Patient Assessment Cheat
• CERT Scott’s Cheats

Other Resources

Here are some other tools your team may find useful in planning and preparing for the exercise:

• PBEM GIS Mapping Tool – This interactive map shows neighborhood boundaries, schools, hospitals, URM buildings, and hazards and may be useful for planning training scenarios. You’ll need to zoom in to see details. 

If you have additional deployment resources to share, email them to netdeploymentexercise@gmail.com

Previous Exercises

• List of Previous Citywide Deployment Exercises

After Action Reports

• 2025.11.09
• 2025.05.31
• 2024.10.30
• 2024.04.27
• 2023.10.08
• 2023.05.13
• 2022.10.22
• 2022.05.07
• 2021.11.07
• 2021.05.15

Exercise Materials

These materials are intended for Exercise Coordinators and Amateur Radio Operators who are planning the exercise for their team.

• NET Incident Command System (ICS) Forms
• Incident Team Leader (ITL) Instructions

• Exercise Coordinators Handbook for Proctors
• Global Exercise Materials (Google folder containing training refreshers, email templates, forms, and more)
• Exercise Coordinator Guidebook (Tips and timeline to help Exercise Coordinators prepare for the exercise)
• NET Deployment Best Practices (Tips from many NET teams covering all aspects of deployment, including command post setup, resource tracking, volunteer management, radio communications and more!)
• Radio Operator Materials (ARO exercise instructions, training presentation slides, etc.)

Photos

• 
  Oct 2023
• 
  May 2023
• 
  Oct 2019
• 
  Apr 2019
• 
  Oct 2018
• 
  Apr 2018
• 
  Oct 2017
• 
  Jul 2017