By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David Wyscaver, Navy Office of Community Outreach
Photo by Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Gary Ward
PEARL HARBOR – A 2001 Christopher Columbus High School graduate and Bronx, 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).
Petty Officer 1st Class Vincent Saa is an engineman aboard USS O'Kane, currently operating out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. A Navy engineman is responsible for the maintenance and operation of rigid hull inflatable boats, auxiliary equipment and standing engineering watches.
Saa applies the lessons he learned from Bronx to his work in the Navy.
“At a young age, I became mechanically inclined and learned to adapt to long working hours,” said Saa.
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 working with other countries and their militaries and meeting new people during this exercise,” said Saa.
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 earning the qualification to stand the engineering officer of the watch,” said Saa.
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, Saa and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“I've realized how important it is to be a part of the military and serve my country,” said Saa. “I feel proud to be a Navy sailor.”
Additional information about RIMPAC is available at http://www.cpf.navy.mil