PORTLAND, Ore.—For Fleet Week 2026, the U.S. Navy brought some of its shiniest and most lethal warships into the Willamette River and docked them on Portland’s shores right in front of the annual city fair, called the Rose Festival.
Hundreds gathered down at the port on June 6 in the rain, not to welcome the fleet, but to, again, call out the normalization of war, violence, and predatory military recruitment practices.
A rally was organized by Resist U.S.-Led War Portland, which was endorsed and attended by numerous organizations including People Organizing for Philippine Solidarity (POPS), ClownBloc PDX, the Communist Party USA Portland Club (CPUSA), Portland Action for Cuba (PAC), Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP), Sunrise Movement, AFSCME Local 1790, About Face, BAYAN Oregon, Code Pink Portland, International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP), Veterans for Peace (VFP), and more!
What is Fleet Week for?
The crowd would chant “Constant lies and endless war” in response. Fleet Week brings over 700 sailors with them to swarm the city and set up recruitment tents to talk to Rose Festival attendees. Recruiters offer free tours of the war machines and show off what taxpayer dollars go toward instead of healthcare, housing, and good wages. Families bringing their young children to the festival were inoculated into U.S. war culture, and some teenagers and young adults were even recruited right on the spot to join the Navy, enticed with stories about traveling the world, defending democracy, and serving their country.
The resistance actions began on the night of June 5 with a peace forum where organizers discussed the importance of opposing Fleet Week and its ties to global militarism. Leo with the PAC described his recent experience in Cuba, highlighting the blackouts caused by the U.S. blockade, the lack of necessary medical equipment, and the need for the “broadest possible movement to oppose a possible invasion of Cuba.” Dan with VFP noted that “At the root of all of this is capitalism. Putting profits over people.” Ash, with the War Resisters League, described their work—tabling next to military recruiters in schools and trying to dispel lies told to high school students.
On the afternoon of June 6, community members gathered in the rain to listen to speakers and hold a die-in right next to the recruiter tents. There are five main concerns that organizers have with Fleet Week:
- Glorification of war due to the free ship tours and merch giveaways
- Direct recruitment of young people into the military
- Damage to the climate caused by war and associated weaponry
- Financial burden on the city and taxpayers
- Increased violence against homeless people, queer people, and women downtown during Fleet Week
A speaker with JVP said, “There is a Jewish teaching that within each life there is a universe. We reject the claim that Israel’s actions are in the name of Jews. And none of that would be possible without US militarism. We oppose Fleet Week because it tries to make militarism a family activity.”
Since 2023, the U.S. has sent billions in aid to Israel—direct cash, resources, or weapons. Many argue that the U.S. is only able to continue supporting Israel against the will of the people due to events like Fleet Week that glorify war and convince people that we need to spend our tax dollars in a violent and destructive manner.
Cecil, a pastor from Albina Christian Life Center, tied U.S. militarism, fascism, and racism together when he stated, “We live in a time and a season where the forces of fascism and oppression are on a relentless march to snatch power from our communities… Every effort to expand peace and democracy [is] met with pushback from powerful forces. The American Civil War and Reconstruction were met by powerful white supremacists.” Many advocates assert that those powerful white supremacists are represented today by the MAGA Republicans primarily, with their bloodthirsty imperialist ambitions and domestic assault on minorities.
People’s World spoke with a number of attendees at the rally to get their perspective:
- One resident complained about the multi-hour bridge shutdown and street closures on a hot weekday afternoon, considerably delaying her commute home
- Another resident and union organizer who lives along the waterfront commented on the loud noises—highlighting random helicopters coming and going and the coast guard ships patrolling the river with automatic weaponry.
- One man told us that when his wife was in high school about 20 years ago, all the girls were told, “Don’t go downtown during Fleet Week” because of the sailors and the potential threat they posed. Many women in the crowd echoed the danger today, and a few speakers commented on it during the rally.
After the speakers were finished, the crowd marched ten blocks, taking over the street on the way to the military recruitment area. Dozens of rally attendees lay down with signs in front of the recruitment tents to hold a die-in as speakers read off the number of people killed by the U.S. military across the world, as well as people killed domestically by the police and ICE, highlighting, honoring, and remembering specific names like Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
A U.S. military veteran spoke about his experience in the military, noting that he felt ostracized, worried by the violence and acceptance thereof, and the boys’ club mentality. Magnus, a prior Boeing worker, spoke about his anger as he learned that the same products on his assembly line were being used as weapons of war. Teams organized with the rally handed out fliers and talked to Fleet Week and Rose Festival attendees along the perimeter, often receiving positive responses because most Portlanders do not know of the negative impacts of Fleet Week.
As the rally concluded, People’s World talked to the Portland CPUSA Political Action Chair on why opposing Fleet Week is important:
“As U.S. residents, it’s critical that we do whatever we can to fight against U.S. imperialism. Campaigning to end Fleet Week locally can make an impact by removing an opportunity for military recruitment while also giving us the chance to educate people on the evils of imperialism as a whole, especially as it appears in their own city.”
Cost of Fleet Week
One of the main ships during this year’s Fleet Week is the USS Chafee (DDG-90). The guided missile destroyer Chafee cost $1 billion to build and has been involved in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) maritime warfare exercise multiple times. RIMPAC is described by the U.S. Department of War as an “international maritime exercise … to strengthen collective forces and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.” What this $1 billion warship really does is endanger the relationship and possibility of war with China. It consumes 908 gallons of fuel per hour—and is left running during all four days of Fleet Week. With rising gas prices due to the Iran war, running a ship for the whole week sounds expensive—and it is. We estimated the cost of Fleet Week:
- If the DDG-90 uses fuel at the same rate while stationary, and it costs $5/gallon, then this ship uses 908 gallons/hour and costs $4,540/hour, or $435,840 for four days
- There are two smaller ships, the WPC-1156 and WLI-313, involved. They use 50 and 58 gallons/hour, assuming the same rate and price, it is $51,936 for four days
- The ~700 sailors have to be paid as well. Assuming a conservative $50k/year salary+benefits, it comes out to $548 per sailor for the 4-day period—or $383k for 700 of them.
- Sailors should be sleeping on their assigned vessels, so there should not be a massive hotel cost.
- In total, the costs that are simple to estimate come out to $487,776 for fuel and $383,000 for sailor wages—totaling at least $870k of taxpayer dollars spent for 4 days of war glorification and military recruitment.
While there may be more costs, such as extra police and city resources used, helicopter visits, bridge and street closures, and more, they are hard to quantify. The coalition has a few demands for the Portland City Council, one of which addresses this issue:
- Withdraw city sponsorship, endorsement, and logistical support for Fleet Week.
- Prohibit U.S. warships from docking on Portland’s public waterfront.
- Redirect any public resources currently used to support Fleet Week, including via the Rose Foundation, to provide accessible health, housing, and educational services to Portland residents.
- Publicly acknowledge and oppose the harm that Fleet Week and the broader militarization of public life cause to local and global communities.
- Investigate and disclose an accounting of resources dedicated to Fleet Week, including the permitting and allowances the City makes for Fleet Week (police, public safety, traffic control, park use).
Rally organizers said that they would organize every single year until Fleet Week is out of the city. They have previously organized against Fleet Week in 2024 and 2025.
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