Vanguard Magazine

R RiMPaC 2016 36 JUNe/JULY 2016 www.vanguardcanada.com F our warships, several aircraft and more than 1,500 Canadian sailors, soldiers, airmen and air- women will participate in the United States Navy-led Exer- cise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) The exercise will take from June 30 to August 4, 2016, in and around the Hawai- ian Islands and Southern California. "Canada has participated in every RIM- PAC since 1971. Over the years, our par- ticipation has helped us build and foster collaborative relationships with our allies and partners in the region," said Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan. "RIMPAC 2016 will once again provide the Canadian Armed Forces with a valuable training opportunity, while demonstrating Canadian leadership and operational excellence abroad." The 25th edition in a series and held every two years, RIMPAC has grown into the world's largest combined and joint maritime exercise. RIMPAC began in 1971 as an annual exercise. Since 1974, the exercise has been scheduled every second year. Can- ada, the United States and Australia are the only nations to have participated in every exercise since its inception. Other nations that have participated in RIMPAC include: Chile, Colombia, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nor- way, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Ko- rea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom, among others. RIMPAC 2016 will bring together 45 ships, five submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel from the armed forces of 27 nations. The exercise will challenge participants with unique training opportunities across the spectrum of military capabilities – from humanitar- ian assistance and disaster response to dy- namic maritime security and complex war fighting operations. "RIMPAC 2016 is a valuable opportu- nity for all services of the Canadian Armed Forces to train together in a joint environ- ment with international allies and part- ners," according to Rear-Admiral Scott Bishop, RIMPAC deputy commander Combined Task Force. "As Deputy Com- mander for the Combined Task Force, I am looking forward to working with our forces and our allies. The exercise will chal- lenge our 1,500 Canadian men and women as we improve our readiness to respond to a range of potential operations, strengthen military-to-military partnerships, and en- hance our ability to work effectively with participants from more than 25 nations." Brig. Gen. Blaise Frawley, will serve as the air component commander. RIMPAC takes place in three phases: Harbour, Force Integration Training and Free Play Phases. Each phase offers a dif- ferent experience to learn and allows ser- vice members opportunities to assume a wide variety of leadership positions. The Harbour Phase is designed to build professional and personal relationships between individuals from participating nations. Personnel have the opportunity to meet face-to-face for briefings, train- ing and detailed planning. The aim is to allow participants to get to know their exercise colleagues, finalise details and lay the foundation for a successful and profes- sional operating environment. The Force Integration Phase involves a structured and detailed training program aimed at enabling participants to operate at the task force level. It exercises each nation's ability to operate in a robust and multinational command and control envi- ronment. This phase also includes: • live-fire gunnery and missile exercises; • maritime interdiction and vessel board- ing exercises; • anti-surface warfare; CF-18 Hornets arrive at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii to participate in the Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2014. Photos: DND 45 ships, five submarines, more than 200 aircra and 25,000 personnel from the armed forces of 27 nations to take part in RIMPAc 2016 Canadian troops join world's largest international maritime exercise

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