Rockwood Native
Participates in World’s Largest International Maritime Warfare Exercise
By Mass Communication
Specialist 1st Class Electa Berassa, Navy Office of Community Outreach
Photo by Mass Communication
Specialist Senior Chief Gary Ward
PEARL HARBOR – A 2000
Rockwood High School graduate and Rockwood, Tennessee 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 1st Class
Ronald Shillings is an electronics technician aboard USS Lake Champlain,
currently operating out of San Diego, California.
A Navy electronics technician
is responsible for maintaining communication within
the ship as well as between ships.
Shillings applies the lessons
he learned from Rockwood to his work in the Navy.
“I learned my work ethic from
growing up in Rockwood,” said Shillings. “I
grew up in a construction family and learned that the job never gets done until
you actually finish it.”
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 hope to achieve new qualifications during RIMPAC,” said
Shillings.
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 maintaining close to 100% of liability of
communications on the ship,” said
Shillings. “I’m also proud to be named Sailor of the Year for 2018.”
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,
Shillings and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last
beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“I’ve
learned the kind of stress that I’m capable of
withstanding and still keeping my sanity,” said Shillings. “The big lesson I’ve learned in the Navy is prioritization.”