Photo by Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Gary Ward
PEARL HARBOR – A 2002 Shimo Ll Tewa High School in Kenya graduate and Kansas City, Missouri, native is serving in the U.S. Navy as part of the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC).
Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Kujaribu is a logistics specialist aboard USS John P. Murtha, currently operating out of San Diego.A Navy logistics specialist is responsible for inventory and ordering parts to support the various departments on the ship as well as customer service.
Kujaribu applies the lessons he learned from Kansas City to his work in the Navy.
“Resilience is important because you learn to be tough and overcome a variety of obstacles,” said Kujaribu.
As the world’s largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring safety at sea and security on the world’s oceans. RIMPAC 2018 is the 26th exercise in the series that began in 1971.
The theme of RIMPAC 2018 is Capable, Adaptive, Partners. The participating nations and forces exercise a wide range of capabilities and demonstrate the inherent flexibility of maritime forces. These capabilities range from disaster relief and maritime security operations to sea control and complex warfighting. The relevant, realistic training program includes, gunnery, missile, anti-submarine and air defense exercises, as well as amphibious, counter-piracy, mine clearance operations, explosive ordnance disposal and diving and salvage operations.
“I'm looking forward to working with other nations and coming together as one to complete the mission,” said Kujaribu.
This is the first time Israel, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are participating in RIMPAC. Additional firsts include New Zealand serving as sea combat commander and Chile serving as combined force maritime component commander. This is the first time a non-founding RIMPAC nation (Chile) will hold a component commander leadership position.
Twenty-six nations, 46 surface ships, five submarines, and more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel will participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercise. This year's exercise includes forces from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.
As a member of the U.S. Navy, Kujaribu and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“Serving in the Navy to me means sacrifice because you have to make sacrifices for the benefit of others and ensure their well-being,” said Kujaribu.
Additional information about RIMPAC is available at http://www.cpf.navy.mil