Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Theodore Quintana
PEARL HARBOR – A 2014 Liberal High School graduate and Liberal, Kansas, 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 Kyle Parrish is a gas turbine electrician aboard USS Dewey, currently operating out of San Diego. A Navy gas turbine electrician is responsible for making sure the ship has power so it can drive.
Parrish applies the lessons he learned from Liberal to his work in the Navy.
“I learned hard work and dedication and not giving up when things get difficult,” said Parrish. “This mindset helped me to maintain and complete my job no matter what.”
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 want to get my surface warfare qualification pin and being here at RIMPAC provides me the perfect opportunity to get it,” said Parrish.
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 qualified to drive the ship, and nobody else that I work with can do that,” said Parrish. “I’m most proud of that.”
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, Parrish and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“I have learned that family comes first no matter what,” said Parrish. “I have to balance my family and career. I now have the mentality to be able to do that.”
Additional information about RIMPAC is available at http://www.cpf.navy.mil