The world’s largest international maritime exercise concluded Aug. 2 following more than a month of training events conducted in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California.
Twenty-five nations, 46 surface ships, five submarines, 17 land forces, and more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel participated in Rim of the Pacific exercise 2018. This year’s RIMPAC iteration marked the 26th in the series that began in 1971 and is now held every two years.
Hosted by U.S. Pacific Fleet, RIMPAC 2018 was led by U.S. Vice Adm. John D. Alexander, commander of the U.S. 3rd Fleet, who served as the combined task force (CTF) commander. Royal Canadian Navy Rear Adm. Bob Auchterlonie served as deputy commander of the CTF, and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Rear Adm. Hideyuki Oban was the vice commander. Fleet Marine Force was led by U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Mark Hashimoto. Other key leaders of the multinational force included Commodore Pablo Niemann of Armada de Chile, who commanded the maritime component, and Air Commodore Craig Heap of the Royal Australian Air Force, who commanded the air component.
This year’s exercise included forces from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Republic of Korea, Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.
