PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - Petty Officer 2nd Class Alfredo Ybarra, a native of Riverbank, California, serves aboard USS Carl Vinson, a U.S. Navy warship operating out of San Diego, California, and participating in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise in and around the Hawaiian Islands.
Ybarra graduated from East Union High School in 2018.
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in Riverbank.
“I learned early on how important a sense of community is,” said Ybarra. “It’s vital to have people around you who are looking out for you, taking care of you, and then being able to do the same for them is fulfilling. This is exactly how you have to be in the Navy. We are all we have.”
Ybarra joined the Navy five years ago. Today, Ybarra serves as a fire controlman.
“I joined the Navy to travel and it sounded exciting,” said Ybarra.
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.
Ybarra plays an important role in the exercise.
“RIMPAC is pretty cool,” said Ybarra. “Meeting all of these people from different countries has been amazing and of course, Hawaii is a lot of fun. We see very quickly that even though we come from very different places, we are all a lot alike.”
Ybarra 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 has helped me to grow up,” said Ybarra. “I don’t know when it happened in my career, but all of a sudden I am the one people are looking up to and looking at for answers. I also feel I’m a great role model for the younger members of my family.”
Ybarra is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.
“I want to thank my parents, Rosa and Alfredo, and my cousin, Lizbeth, for always supporting me,” added Ybarra.
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/
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| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Marissa Johnson |
Ybarra graduated from East Union High School in 2018.
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in Riverbank.
“I learned early on how important a sense of community is,” said Ybarra. “It’s vital to have people around you who are looking out for you, taking care of you, and then being able to do the same for them is fulfilling. This is exactly how you have to be in the Navy. We are all we have.”
Ybarra joined the Navy five years ago. Today, Ybarra serves as a fire controlman.
“I joined the Navy to travel and it sounded exciting,” said Ybarra.
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.
Ybarra plays an important role in the exercise.
“RIMPAC is pretty cool,” said Ybarra. “Meeting all of these people from different countries has been amazing and of course, Hawaii is a lot of fun. We see very quickly that even though we come from very different places, we are all a lot alike.”
Ybarra 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 has helped me to grow up,” said Ybarra. “I don’t know when it happened in my career, but all of a sudden I am the one people are looking up to and looking at for answers. I also feel I’m a great role model for the younger members of my family.”
Ybarra is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.
“I want to thank my parents, Rosa and Alfredo, and my cousin, Lizbeth, for always supporting me,” added Ybarra.
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/