Photo by Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Gary Ward
PEARL HARBOR – A 2014 Hilliard Davidson High School graduate and Hilliard, Ohio, native is serving in the U.S. Navy as part of the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC).
Ensign Christopher Taylor is a surface warfare instruction officer aboard USS O'Kane, currently operating out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. A Navy surface warfare instruction officer is responsible for supervising the training and maintenance of various weapons systems onboard the guided missile destroyer.
Taylor applies the lessons he learned from Hilliard to his work in the Navy.
“Being an Eagle Scout (Troop 200) taught me a lot about responsibility and leadership that has helped me during my naval service,” said Taylor.
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 gun shoot evolution during the exercise and seeing my junior sailors execute all of their training,” said Taylor.
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 my Naval officer commissioning from Miami University in Ohio,” said Taylor.
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, Taylor and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“Serving in the Navy means not only putting others before yourself but being willing to train the next generation,” said Taylor. “The greatest weapon the Navy has is its sailors, the most valuable asset.”
Additional information about RIMPAC is available at http://www.cpf.navy.mil