PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - Petty Officer 3rd Class Takiyah Spikes, a native of Orlando, Florida, 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 |
Spikes graduated from Winter Park High School in 2018.
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in Orlando.
“My hometown taught me customer service and how to be a people person,” said Spikes. "It also taught me that every job contributes to morale and functionality, emphasizing that small details come together to form the bigger picture. Every division plays a vital role in ensuring the ship operates cohesively."
Spikes joined the Navy three years ago. Today, Spikes serves as a retail services specialist.
“I joined the Navy to provide financial support for my mother and brother,” said Spikes. "I had a good idea as to what I was joining because both my parents were in the Army"
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.
Spikes plays an important role in the exercise.
“My role during RIMPAC is being a Supply Officer, responsible for managing food, beverage and other supply needs,” said Spikes. "RIMPAC is truly remarkable. It's exciting to see everyone come together, enjoy each other's company and have the opportunity to view ships before the next reenlistment."
Spikes 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 gives me an understanding of what my family has been through to raise me,” said Spikes. "It helps me understand all the things my mom went through to provide for me. Service provides me insight into what it's like to walk in their shoes and see what they endured while they were serving."
Spikes is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.
“I would like to thank the friends I made in boot camp, as well as my childhood friends and those I met during technical training,” added Spikes. "I would also like to thank my mom, Trena Spikes, for encouraging me to join, which allowed me to have experiences like going to Japan. I'm also grateful to my aunt Irene for her understanding and support, as she's always been there for me regarding mental health."
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/