Airmen participate in RIMPAC 2010 international maritime exercise

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  • 13th Air Force Public Affairs
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR HICKAM, Hawaii (AFNS) --  The 613th Air and Space Operations Center here is serving as the central hub for data and voice communications during the biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise June 23 through Aug. 1.

The state-of-the-art facility enables a multinational team to provide command and control of air and space assets during RIMPAC, the world's largest international maritime exercise.

"The 613th AOC is equipped to ensure the flow of information between all the exercise's players," said Brig. Gen. Thomas Harwood III, the mobilization assistant to the commander of 13th Air Force and the combined forces air component commander for RIMPAC 2010.

RIMPAC 2010 employs more than 20,000 people from 14 nations and more than 100 aircraft, 34 ships and five submarines. This year's exercise includes units or people from Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Peru, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and the United States.

"The exercise is designed to increase tactical proficiency of participating units in a wide array of combined operations at sea," the general said,  "to include our air component flying a variety of sorties involving fighter aircraft, bombers, tankers, electronic warfare, command and control, and airlift."

U.S. Air Force aircraft participating in RIMPAC include B-52 Stratofortresses, C-17 Globemaster IIIs, E-3 Sentries, F-15 Eagles, F-16 Fighting Falcons, KC-135 Stratotankers, HC-130 Hercules and HH-60 Pave Hawks.

Hosted by the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, RIMPAC is the 22nd in a series of significant international multilateral combined and joint military exercises scheduled biennially and demonstrates a commitment to working with global partners in guarding the sea lanes of commerce and communication, protecting national interests abroad and ensuring freedom of navigation as a basis for global peace and prosperity.

"RIMPAC provides an excellent opportunity for our Airmen to sharpen their warfighting skills while increasing interoperability with our joint and global partners," General Harwood said. "We are building relationships that will help promote security across the region."

Participating U.S. Air Force units include the 20th Bomb Squadron from Barksdale Air Force Base, La.; the California Air National Guard's 194th Fighter Squadron from Fresno, Calif.; the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron from Eglin AFB, Fla.; 13th Air Force, the 25th Air Support Operations Squadron, the 535th Airlift Squadron, the 169th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron and the Hawaii Air National Guard's 199th FS, all from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; the 44th FS from Kadena Air Base, Japan; the 964th Airborne Control Squadron, the 970th ACS, the 513th Air Control Group and the 465th Air Refueling Squadron from Tinker AFB, Okla.; the 422nd TES from Nellis AFB, Nev.; and the 39th Rescue Squadron and the 301st RQS from Patrick AFB, Fla.