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RIMPAC Concludes, Offers Lessons

Navy Newsstand

Story Number: NNS040723-13
Release Date: 7/23/2004 12:21:00 PM

By Journalist 2nd Class Devin Wright, Commander, Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (NNS) -- USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) arrived in Pearl Harbor July 22, marking the end of Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) maritime exercises 2004.

RIMPAC, which supported the Navy's Summer Pulse 2004, involved seven different countries combining forces in an effort to continue to build a better alliance through communication, and learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses.

"We've learned that when we work with coalition allies that there are different levels of co-operation," said Rear Adm. Patrick Walsh, commander, Carrier Group 7. "In the past, we would have been content to work through some conflicting issues by having translators and linguists on board in order to conduct operations safely. What we've learned in these RIMPAC exercises is it's important to integrate by bringing allies to daily operations meetings, and that the faces of leadership interact close in order to carry out combined missions in a real life scenario."

"We are not looking for simple integration during RIMPAC," added Walsh. "We are looking for assimilation of capabilities, and that takes cooperation and discussions on a different level than we've seen in the past."

Command Master Chief Charles Ratliff, command master chief of Sea Control Squadron (VS) 35, said RIMPAC, in a sense, is seven countries uniting for three weeks to become a single Navy.

"It's amazing to see our ability to work as one force," said Ratliff. "We've had an opportunity to work with these great countries and become a team in war-time scenarios. That's what we've all come out here to do. We not only accomplished that, but we accomplished it well."

For many Sailors, RIMPAC offered them the opportunity to work on various qualifications.

"I have been trained on a lot of things right now," said Airman Stephen Bussiere of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 113 aboard Stennis. "We have so many more flight operations that you get more training. I've learned a lot, which gets me that much closer to my air warfare pin."

RIMPAC also gave junior Sailors the opportunity to meet foreign sailors.

"My friends and I have friends from the Australian Navy and Japanese Navy," said Bussiere. "We plan on getting together in Hawaii."

For senior leadership, the opportunity to participate in RIMPAC is extraordinary.

"We're in historic waters when you think about the role that Hawaii has played in the United States Navy," Walsh explained. "These exercises have given us a chance to take stock of ourselves and our allies, and what we treasure. We treasure our service, and what we value more than anything else are those who stand with us."

Summer Pulse 2004 demonstrated the Navy's new construct for deploying forces as part of the Fleet Response Plan (FRP). Under the FRP, the Navy will maintain the ability to simultaneously deploy six carrier strike groups (CSGs) in less than 30 days to support contingency operations around the world, and have two more CSGs ready to support or relieve elements of the initial responding forces within three months.