Rockaway Park Native Participates in World’s Largest International
Maritime Warfare Exercise
By Mass Communication
Specialist 1st Class David Wyscaver, Navy Office of Community Outreach
Photo by Mass Communication
Specialist 2nd Class Theodore Quintana
PEARL HARBOR – A 2017
Riverside Military Academy graduate and Rockaway
Park, New York native is serving in the U.S.
Navy as part of the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise,
Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC).
Seaman Apprentice Richard
Binder is a culinary specialist aboard USS Lake Erie, currently operating out
of San Diego.
A Navy culinary specialist is
responsible for boosting the morale of the ship while
providing food services to the crew.
Binder applies the lessons he
learned from Rockaway Park to his work in the
Navy.
“Treating others with respect is important because it's good karma,”
said Binder.
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,”
according to Navy officials. 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 new people from different countries as well
as exploring Hawaii,” said Binder.
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.
“I’m most proud of graduating bootcamp and successfully
completing the battle stations portion of the training,” said Binder.
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,
Binder and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond
their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“I feel like I'm giving back
to those who have served before me and hopefully those who serve after me will
continue to give back as well,” said Binder.