PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - Petty Officer 1st Class Dimitrius Stallings, a native of Long Beach, California, serves aboard USS William P. Lawrence, a U.S. Navy warship operating out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and participating in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise in and around the Hawaiian Islands.
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| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Isaiah Williams |
Stallings graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 2012.
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in Long Beach.
“Long Beach is a very diverse city," said Stallings. "It’s maybe not as diverse as the Navy, but I believe growing up in that town made it easy for me to connect with sailors."
Stallings joined the Navy 12 years ago. Today, Stallings serves as an operations specialist.
“I joined the Navy because I wanted to see the world,” said Stallings. "I knew I wanted to go to college, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do yet and I knew the Navy would give me the time to figure that out."
As the world’s largest international maritime exercise, approximately 29 nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, over 150 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel will participate in RIMPAC 2024. This exercise 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 2024 marks the 29th exercise in a series that began in 1971.
The theme of RIMPAC 2024 is “Partners: Integrated and Prepared.” 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.
Stallings plays an important role in the exercise.
“RIMPAC has been fun so far with all the competition between us and our allies,” said Stallings. "It is my job to lead and supervise my division as they find and track contacts during the wargames at sea."
Stallings serves a Navy that operates far forward, around the world and around the clock, promoting the nation's prosperity and security.
“Serving in the Navy can be challenging sometimes,” said Stallings. "It is good to know I am part of something bigger than myself and that I am protecting the people I love."
Stallings is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.
“I want to thank my parents, Jeanette Phillips and Anthony Stallings, and my two brothers who have always been so supportive,” said Stallings. "My father was in the Navy and it's great to have someone who understands what I'm talking about."
“I am working toward my bachelor's degree in cyber security from the University of Maryland Global Campus and I hope to be selected for chief petty officer before I retire,” added Stallings.
Hosted by Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, RIMPAC 2024 will be led by Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet, Vice Adm. John Wade, who will serve as Combined Task Force (CTF) commander. For the first time in RIMPAC history, a member of the Chilean Navy, Commodore Alberto Guerrero, will serve as deputy commander of the CTF. Rear Adm. Kazushi Yokota of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force will serve as vice commander. Other key leaders of the multinational force will include Commodore Kristjan Monaghan of Canada, who will command the maritime component, and Air Commodore Louise Desjardins of Australia, who will command the air component.
During RIMPAC, a network of capable, adaptive partners train and operate together in order to strengthen their collective forces and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific. RIMPAC 2024 contributes to the increased interoperability, resiliency and agility needed by the Joint and Combined Force to deter and defeat aggression by major powers across all domains and levels of conflict.
More information about RIMPAC is available here: https://www.cpf.navy.mil/RIMPAC/