Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. (July 16, 2024): The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC 2024, kicks off this week with a focus on disaster and humanitarian relief. In this photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan LeCompte, a young visitor tries on Navy head gear aboard the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force amphibious transport dock ship JS Kunisaki during Open Ship Day.
The exercise is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years at Honolulu. This year eight countries participated with five ships, five landing craft, five aircraft, multiple land forces, and over 2,500 total participants. This is the 29th RIMPAC exercise that began in 1971 and the event was attended by representatives from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom. Other participating nations include Chile, Colombia, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Peru, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand.
This year’s emphasis is on Navy medicine and the more than 44,000 highly trained military and civilian health care professionals that provide expeditionary medical support to warfighters on, below, and above the sea, and ashore. The exercise also included amphibious operations, gunnery, missile, anti-submarine, and air defense exercises. Special sessions were held on counter-piracy, mine clearance operations, explosive ordnance disposal, and diving and salvage operations. A highlight of the event was the sinking of the former USS Tarawa, an 820-foot-long amphibious assault ship that provided a target for a variety of sophisticated munitions.
RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity for participating navies while fostering cooperative relationships among participants critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans.