Tech. Sgt. Chris Vadnais, US Air Force,
PEARL HARBOR: The 20th multinational Rim of the Pacific Exercise, or RIMPAC, came to an end July 28. The exercise, a month-long simulation of intense warfare operations off the coast of Hawaii, comprised a coalition force of eight nations employing 35 ships, 160 aircraft and 19,000 sailors.
RIMPAC 2006 provided an opportunity for allied nations to learn more about working together. The exercise fostered teamwork between eight allied nations, each with an interest in promoting peace, security, and stability in the Pacific region.
“Chilean prosperity relies on trade,” said Vice Admiral Gerardo Covacevich Castex, chief of naval operations for the republic of Chile.?”The main road for this trade is the Pacific, so we couldn't be more happy to be participating in this combined exercise,” he said.
“We came to enhance our reputation,” said Commodore Richard Shalders, commander of the Australian navy submarine group. “We've been in RIMPAC for more than thirty years as one of the principal players, and every single time, we value what we get by coming this far,” he said, “particularly from the other side of the Pacific, with half our coastline facing this ocean.”
This year, new equipment streamlined communications between coalition partners, and for the first time in the history of this exercise, command and control of air assets came from the Kenny Headquarters Air Operations Center at Hickam Air Force Base.
This year's exercises included live missile, torpedo and gunnery fire exercises as well as air defense, submarine warfare and undersea and surface operations.
The last phase of RIMPAC 2006 was a scenario in which the participants worked together to enforce United Nations Security Council resolutions to prevent one fictitious country from invading another. U.S. Marines conducted mock non-combatant evacuation operations and an amphibious beach assault on the shore of Oahu, while coalition forces provided air support.?
In addition to the U.S., Australia and Chile, other participating nations included Canada, Japan, Korea, Peru and the United Kingdom.
Each of the eight participating nations brought their own unique set of skills to the exercise. When combined, these skills represent a coalition capability far stronger than any one nation, officials said. RIMPAC 2006 helped fine-tune that coalition capability.
