SAN DIEGO -- Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet hosted the initial planning conference (IPC) for Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) 2018, at the Admiral Kidd Club and Sims Hall aboard Naval Base Point Loma, June 5-9.
More than 500 personnel from countries participating in RIMPAC 2018 attended the IPC to streamline preparations for the rapidly approaching exercise.
Vice Adm. Nora W. Tyson, commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet, kicked-off the conference with welcome remarks. Tyson emphasized the importance of the RIMPAC planning phase and highlighted the importance of integration of new and old partners as well as meeting changing demands.
“We have to make sure we are doing the planning and coordination between now and execution of RIMPAC in summer of 2018,” said Tyson. “It takes an awful lot of preparation and a lot of communication to make sure everyone involved has the same understanding. RIMPAC is the biggest maritime exercise in the world, and the work this week will ensure it is successful.”
The event afforded attendees the opportunity to disseminate information and initiate planning for RIMPAC 2018.
Royal Australian Navy Lt. Cmdr. Dean Uren, RIMPAC coordinator, attached to 3rd Fleet, said the event will be challenging and intricate; he explained how proper preparation will increase knowledge and avoid preventable complications.
“This is the 26th iteration of RIMPAC. There is a lot of residual expertise when it comes to planning and executing the evolution. It is important that those who have participated before communicate with those who haven’t, so we have a successful evolution like we did in 2016,” said Uren.
The vision for RIMPAC was supported by nine pillars: multinational partnerships, tactical excellence, interoperability, certification, concurrency of operations, multi-national planning, exercise structure, environment and energy and experimentation.
“This week we focus on what each participating country would like to accomplish during RIMPAC,” Tyson said. “We will also figure out how to achieve the overall objectives of RIMPAC 2018. The goal is to ensure we have all the information we need so we can move on to more detailed planning.”
RIMPAC began in 1971 and was held annually until 1974, when it became a biennial exercise due to its scale. The founding nations were the United States, Australia, and Canada. This will be the 26th RIMPAC since inception.
U.S. 3rd Fleet leads naval forces in the Pacific and provides the realistic, relevant training necessary for an effective global Navy.
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