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Naval Submarine Training Center Pacific Supports RIMPAC

Navy NewsStand

Naval Station Norfolk To See Energy Conservation Upgrades
Story Number: NNS100719-17
7/19/2010

From Submarine Learning Center Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- Naval training is supporting the international maritime exercise, Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2010, taking place in and around the islands of Hawaii, through Aug. 1, by training submarine crews from the Republic of Korea Navy, and the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force.

Naval Submarine Training Center Pacific (NSTCP) in Pearl Harbor will teach the submariners attack center operations, shipboard damage control and fire fighting procedures.

"Times and technologies can, and do, change, but there are constants shared by all submarine Sailors," said Fire Control Technician 1st Class (Submarines) Gregory Willmann, a tactics training department instructor. "I believe other nations are curious how the U.S. trains their own, what our processes are, and how we evaluate and critique ourselves. They know how advanced our sub force is, and strive to be comparable. Our training is the baseline for success."

NSTCP partners on a regular basis with other nation's submarine forces. It allows for the sharing of ideas, which the training staff says not only increases the understanding and knowledge between the US and its partners, but also helps build a stronger partnership between the countries.

"The benefits definitely outweigh the challenges. By training allied foreign navies, we not only give them a perspective of how we operate, but also generate discussion about the similarities and differences between their navies and ours," said Lt. Matthew Beaudry, NTSP's foreign training officer. "The main challenge is definitely the language barrier. It can be difficult, not just providing the training, but also the evaluation of the team being trained."

NSTCP uses a balanced blend of classroom, simulator and hands-on training, which helps to improve the submariners overall understanding of operations and procedures in real-time and real-world environments.

"The United States Navy has the most sophisticated submarines in the world, requiring advanced training to the crews of these submarines. In the case of damage control and fire fighting, we train foreign Navies in our high tech damage control trainers with realistic scenarios," said NTSP instructor Chief Machinist Mate (Submarines) Priestly Mance. "Since many other countries do not have an advanced fire fighting facility or wet team trainer, they welcome the opportunity to come to us for their advanced training needs."

Twelve nations, more than 20,000 military personnel, 32 ships, five submarines and more than 170 aircraft are participating in the biennial RIMPAC that military officials call the world's largest maritime exercise. Three other nations have sent teams of observers for the exercises.

"We deal with a lot of the same things, damage control, watch standing and deployments," said instructor Sonar Technician 1st Class (Submarines) John Humble. "These experiences help create a shared understanding that transcends some boundaries and bonds us in a common understanding. Though our submarine platforms are extremely different, I felt our similarities were greater than the differences."

U.S. 3rd Fleet is the coordinating command for the international exercise whose theme this year is "Combined Agility, Synergy and Support."