PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - Seaman Russell Ratliff, a native of San Antonio, Texas, 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.
 |
| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Isaiah Williams |
Ratliff graduated from Samuel Steele High School in 2022.
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in San Antonio.
“I learned early on that you can always find good in the bad,” said Ratliff. "In the Navy, there are going to be times when you're down, but then I remember why I'm doing this and I pick myself up."
Ratliff joined the Navy one year ago. Today, Ratliff serves as a boatswain's mate.
“I joined the Navy to see the world,” said Ratliff. "So far, I have been to Alaska and Hawaii, and I have to say Hawaii has been the most fun."
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.
Ratliff plays an important role in the exercise.
“RIMPAC is cool,” said Ratliff. "Watching all of these different ships come in and participating in our long sea and anchor detail was incredible."
Ratliff serves a Navy that operates far forward, around the world and around the clock, promoting the nation's prosperity and security.
“I feel like serving in the Navy and being part of the 1% who are doing it is something to be proud of," said Ratliff. "This will also allow me to pursue being a firefighter."
Ratliff is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.
“I want to thank my mom, Veronica, for always pushing me to succeed and supporting me when I was questioning myself about decisions I made,” said Ratliff. "She always has a way of making me see things clearly."
“My goal now is to move back to Texas and have a family and a career as a firefighter,” added Ratliff.
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/