Photo by Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Gary Ward
PEARL HARBOR – A 2016 Duncanville High School graduate and Duncanville, 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).
Airman Jaime Guevara is an aviation electrician's mate attached to Electronic Attack Squadron 136, currently operating out of Whidbey Island, Washington.A Navy aviation electrician’s mate is responsible for maintaining and troubleshooting the wiring that allows the EA-18G “Growler” to fly.
Guevara applies the lessons learned from Duncanville to working in the Navy.
“I learned to take care of other people while growing up,” said Guevara. "If you take care of your fellow shipmates, they'll take care of you."
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 touring the different ships of our allies and seeing how they operate,” said Guevara.
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 being able to travel with the Navy and see different things I haven't seen before,” said Guevara.
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, Guevara 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 that I can handle stress a lot easier since joining the Navy,” said Guevara. “Serving in the Navy means I get to provide myself a better future. I get to have my education paid for, which is invaluable.”
Additional information about RIMPAC is available at http://www.cpf.navy.mil