Shreveport 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 2013
Northwood High School graduate and Shreveport, Louisiana
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 3rd Class Robert
Angelo is a culinary specialist aboard USS Lake Erie, currently operating out
of San Diego.
A Navy culinary specialist is
responsible for the food inventory for the entire crew as well as making sure the watch
captains are prepared to provide service to
the crew.
Angelo applies the lessons he
learned from Shreveport to his work in the Navy.
“Playing sports growing up helped me a lot because I learned a lot
about leadership and teamwork,” said Angelo.
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
interacting with the other nations here and meeting new people,” said Angelo.
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 obtaining the rank of petty officer
third class and earning my surface warfare qualification pin,” said Angelo.
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,
Angelo and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond
their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“The reason I joined the Navy
is for my son. I want to be a positive role model for him,” said Angelo. “Serving my country motivates me
because I want him to have someone to look up to.”