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More than 1,000 Canadian sailors, soldiers, airmen and airwomen who deployed to the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California have completed their participation in Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), the world’s premier combined and joint maritime exercise.
RIMPAC is a biennial exercise that aims to foster multinational cooperation and trust, enhance interoperability, enable professional engagement and achieve national objectives, with the collective purpose of building capable and adaptive partnerships.
Twenty-two nations, 49 ships, six submarines, more than 200 aircraft, and 25 000 personnel participated in RIMPAC 2014. This was the 24th exercise in the series. Canada has participated in every iteration of the exercise since its inception in 1971.
The Royal Canadian Navy participated in a wide scope of training scenarios such as anti-submarine warfare, maritime interdiction operations, mine sweeping and neutralization, command and control and communication operations, ship manoeuvering, standard naval drills (firefighting, man overboard exercises, etc), weapons firings, and sea combat. Other examples include replenishments at sea, anti-submarine warfare, submarine operations, and multi-national communications.
The Canadian Army was part of an amphibious force integrated with the U.S. Marines. Scenarios involved training events such as complex live fire ranges, fast roping, aviation drills for the variety of airframes, helocasting, Modular Amphibious Egress Training, as well as participating in a non-combatant evacuation operation.
The Royal Canadian Air Force participated in training scenarios that covered three areas: maritime patrol, fighters, and an air-to-air refueling. Over the last month we saw anti-submarine warfare operations, offensive and defensive air-to-air tactics, live missile shoots including participating in the SINKEX, and coalition air-to-air refueling.
Key leadership positions at RIMPAC 2014 held by Canadian military officers included: the Combined Forces Maritime Component Commander, Rear-Admiral Gilles Couturier; the Deputy Commander Combined Forces Air Component Command, Colonel Dave Lowthian; and the Deputy Commander Combined Task Group 172, Colonel Iain Huddleston.
“Canada has been a steadfast partner in RIMPAC since it began. We continue to participate in the exercise in order to strengthen our defence relationships with our allies, and to increase interoperability with our many partner nations,” said the Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls and Minister of National Defence.
“I had a chance to see the men and women of our Canadian Armed Forces at RIMPAC and I am thrilled with the skill and professionalism they displayed. Through our participation in RIMPAC we demonstrate our commitment to ensuring the Canadian Armed Forces remain ready to respond to events in the Asia Pacific region,” commented General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff.
“We came to RIMPAC with the objectives to build on our own training, to foster international military partnerships, and to demonstrate leadership on an international stage,” said Rear-Admiral Gilles Couturier, RIMPAC Combined Forces Maritime Component Commander. “I am so proud of the work our Canadian Armed Forces have done at the world’s largest maritime exercise. We’ve shown our partners, time and again, that the Canadian Armed Forces are a very capable and dependable partner.”
