Photo by Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Gary Ward
PEARL HARBOR – A 2011 Lanier High School graduate and Austin, Texas, 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 Mark Jaimes is an operations specialist aboard USS O'Kane, currently operating out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.A Navy operation specialist is responsible for tracking and monitoring vessels and working with other ship’s operations teams.
Jaimes applies the lessons he learned from Austin to his work in the Navy.
“Growing up, I was taught to be independent and responsible while ensuring a hard work ethic which is equally important in the Navy,” said Jaimes.
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 the various exercises and performing my job responsibilities,” said Jaimes.
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, Jaimes and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“I like the responsibility and growing as a leader the Navy has offered me,” said Jaimes. “I love serving because it means a lot to my family and it inspires them to accomplish their goals.”
Additional information about RIMPAC is available at http://www.cpf.navy.mil