Photo by Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Gary Ward
PEARL HARBOR – A 2012 Passaic County Technical Institute graduate and Paterson, New Jersey, native is serving in the U.S. Navy as part of the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC).
Lt. j.g. Myisha Bryan is a combat missile division officer aboard USS John P. Murtha, currently operating out of San Diego. A combat missile division officer is responsible for the operations, repair and maintenance of the rolling air frame missile and SPQ-9 radar.
Bryan applies the lessons she learned from Paterson to her work in the Navy.
“I learned to treat everyone the way you would want to be treated,” said Bryan. “Everyone is to be treated as equals from the person taking out the trash to the captain.”
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 meeting people from the other nations,” said Bryan. “It will be interesting to see their customs and to be able to board their ships.”
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, Bryan and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“I have learned that I really like leading people and getting to know all of the personnel and what drives them,” said Bryan. “I’m a pysche major so it is always interesting to learn about people. Getting to practice what I can do to make everything better is what serving in the Navy means to me.”
Additional information about RIMPAC is available at http://www.cpf.navy.mil