PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - Lt. Molly Green, a native of Tucson, Arizona, serves aboard USS Fitzgerald, 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.
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| Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jerome Fjeld |
Green graduated from Tucson High Magnet School in 2008. She earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Northern Arizona University in 2014 and a master's in molecular biosciences and bioengineering from the University of Hawaii in Manoa in 2016.
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in Tucson.
“I learned determination growing up in Tucson with a single mother of four kids,” said Green. "My motivation to get educated came from seeing the lack of prospects I grew up around. I'm not the quickest to learn, but I'm the most determined and the most persistent. It took me six years to finish my undergraduate degree and there were times I wanted to give up, especially when my brother died, but I was determined to complete what I started."
Green joined the Navy five years ago. Today, Green serves as a cyber officer and information security officer.
“I joined the Navy to serve my country and to follow my grandfather, Maurice Garifo, who was enlisted in the Air Force for 25 years,” said Green. "My uncle, Christopher Garifo, served in the Navy as a cryptologic technician interpretive on submarines. He passed on before I was commissioned, but I know he is proud of me. Up to that point in my life, I had spent it all in academia, and I wanted to get out and see the world and make myself more competitive when I went for my doctorate at Yale. I wanted something that would distinguish me. Finally, I wanted to do the things not a lot of people do and the military offers those opportunities."
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.
Green plays an important role in the exercise.
“This is my second RIMPAC and my first one on a ship, and it's amazing,” said Green. "We are working so hard night and day to make sure we are battle-ready. Being able to participate with other countries and learning to work with our allies is a unique experience that I wouldn't trade for the world. My job is to chop the communication plan so we can communicate with our allies securely."
Green 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 means I am dedicated to my country,” said Green. "It is worth the sacrifice to know that I am part of something bigger than myself."
Green is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.
“I want to thank my daughter, Emily, who has had to make so many adjustments,” added Green. "By the time she turns nine years old, she will have moved seven times in nine years. We have spent time away from each other and it is so hard, but she is amazing. I have to also thank my mother, Terri, who has moved with us since my daughter was born, and I could not do this without her. I want to also thank my current partner, Lt. Cmdr. Joshua Nach, who is currently at the Navy’s post-graduate school in Monterey, California, getting his master's degree. He has been my best friend through my divorce and taking care of my house when I was deployed, and he is so great with my daughter. We are in the process of buying a house in Florida and he is handling everything. The support system between him and my mom is the only reason I get to have the career I do. Finally, I want to thank my best friend, Tiara, who I have known since church camp in 2005. She has been with me through everything, every high and low, success, and failure and she's never turned her back on me. I want to thank Jessica, a prior Marine I met in graduate school in Hawaii. She has been the most supportive of my joining the military. Her strength and fortitude have been an inspiration to me. I cannot forget my granparents, aunt, uncles, and siblings for their support. I have to mention my brother, Josh, who died a week before turning 17. He is my motivation to continue to live life to the fullest. Every day I'm living for him and for myself.""
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/