by SGT Will Skelton, U.S.M.C.
Thousands of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines have returned from deployments to Iraq and Afganistan injured. To combat this issue, the various services have developed programs to ensure that these people are given the best care available. As Marine SGT Will Skelton reports, one of those programs is helping wounded warriors in Hawaii get back on their feet.
Capt. Paul Innis, Cmdr. David Little, Capt. Chris Sprinkle, and Cmdr. Doug Anderson discuss a battle strategy in the 613th Air and Space Operations Center at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii on July 22, 2008. The officers are providing command and control for the airpower in Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2008. (US Air Force photo / Master Sgt. Chris Vadnais)
by Master Sgt. Chris Vadnais
07/23/2008 – HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AFPN) – A multinational team is providing command and control of air and space forces for Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2008 from Hickam’s 613th Air and Space Operations Center. But perhaps more importantly, the team is building relationships.
Coordinating all airpower in the world’s largest biennial maritime exercise is certainly a complex task. RIMPAC 2008 employs more than 20,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen. The only thing more difficult may be trying to do that side-by-side with people you have never met—people from foreign nations.
Forces from the United States, Canada, Australia, and the Republic of Korea are gathered together on the AOC floor, each with his or her own specific function related to command and control of RIMPAC air and space assets. But according to Maj. Gen. Richard Perraut, vice commander of 13th Air Force and the Combined Forces Air Component Commander for RIMPAC 2008, perhaps the most important thing that happens in the state-of-the-art command and control facility is the building of relationships between coalition forces.
“We do about 30 exercises a year, both jointly and with our partner nations,” said the general. “In doing that we build relationships, we build trust and we build on a capability so that when real-world situations happen, the other nations know that we have the capability [to help]–they trust us.”
RIMPAC 2008 brings forces from nine partner nations to Hawaii, and several of those nations are represented in the AOC. While each person is doing his or her part of the mission, they are also all building a foundation of trust.
Pacific partnerships are important to 13th Air Force and to U.S. Pacific Command, and building relationships rooted in trust and cooperation takes time.
“When you start working in an international environment, you do not have the trust built right from the start,” said Canadian Air Force Brig. Gen. Yvan Blondin, the Deputy CFACC for RIMPAC 2008.
Working in a joint and multi-nation operation is different from deploying with one’s own unit, requiring time to build understanding and trust, General Blondin said.
“You need to establish that basis before you can be effective operationally,” General Blondin said. “So if you can do it in an exercise, the contacts you make [and] the understanding of other countries just makes it easier when you have to do it for real. You don’t need to start from scratch.”
The time and effort it takes to build relationships rooted in trust are likely to pay off in a big way, General Perraut said. When the time comes for the United States to partner with any or all of the RIMPAC 2008 nations in a real contingency, the trust formed now will be a solid foundation on which to build.
“We’ve built relationships; we can help them, they can help us, and it comes out to the good of all,” General Perraut said.
RIMPAC 2008 runs through the end of July.
The Wasp-class Amphibious Assault Ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) steams in formation with ships and submarines from the U.S. Navy as well as the Navies of the seven other nations which participated in the 2006 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise. (U.S. Navy photo / Mass Communications Specialist Seaman James R. Evans)
by Master Sgt. Chris Vadnais
07/09/2008 – HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AFPN) – For the first time ever, Hickam’s 613th Air & Space Operations Center is serving as the central hub for data and voice communications in a RIMPAC exercise.
Exercise RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) 2008, the 21st in a series of significant international military exercises scheduled biennially by U.S. Pacific Fleet, is running now through the end of July.
RIMPAC is designed to increase the tactical proficiency of participating units in a wide array of combined operations at sea. By enhancing interoperability—joint and coalition cooperation–RIMPAC promotes stability in the Pacific Rim region. The 613th AOC is equipped to ensure the flow of communication between all the exercise’s players.
“Having the 613th AOC as the hub of the RIMPAC exercise is not going to make the exercise different; it’s just going to make it better,” said Lt. Gen. Loyd “Chip” Utterback, commander of the 13th Air Force.
“What we do when we exercise is we train, and having multiple nations and all our services together at the same time in the place where we would normally do the command and control [in a real-world contingency] enhances our training and makes us even better as warfighters,” he said.
While working closely with other services and allied nations can be tough work, most leaders say it’s rewarding.
“We learn an awful lot from working with our joint and coalition partners,” said Col. Randy Moser, the Deputy Chief of Combat Operations in the 613th Air & Space Operations Center.
“This is a great opportunity for us to work and build those relationships too, so that in a time of crisis or any particular operation we know and understand how each of the various components work,” he said.
RIMPAC 2008 brings units from Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Netherlands, Peru, Republic of Korea, Singapore, United Kingdom and the U.S. to participate, while India, Colombia, Mexico, and Russia are scheduled to send observers.
The exercise employs 35 ships, six submarines, more than 150 aircraft and 20,000 Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Soldiers and Coastguardsmen.
