Air Force ramps up for Pacific exercise

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Cohen Young
  • Defense Media Activity-Hawaii
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (AFNS) --  A C-17 Globemaster III from here dropped supplies to Marines on the island of Hawaii June 24 as part of the Rim of the Pacific exercise.

This is the first year that C-17's are participating in RIMPAC, the largest maritime, biennial exercise in the world, which is in its 22nd year of existence. Interoperability is a key element of regional security, and RIMPAC tests participating nations and strengthens their ability to communicate and operate in simulated air, land and maritime scenarios.

Crewmembers from the 535th Airlift Squadron said they felt very fortunate to have the opportunity to mark history by being the first C-17 squadron to participate in the exercise.

The crew used the Improved Container Delivery System to drop more than 25,000 pounds of supplies to Marines from Marine Corps Base Hawaii that are deployed to Hawaii, said Maj. Paul Anderson, the aircraft commander.

"We conducted a single ship mission in which we dropped 25 ICDS bundles over a new drop zone on the Big Island of Hawaii to Marines from Kaneohe Bay in support of the RIMPAC 2010 exercise," Major Anderson said.

"The method we used is the same as what we utilize in Afghanistan and is more accurate than the old system, which is important when we drop supplies to troops in forward operating areas where we can't get low enough because there is a threat, its dusk or there isn't a runway available to land," Major Anderson said." This type of training is not done typically in Hawaii, so it was good for our pilots and loadmasters to be able to conduct this type of real-world training that most of them haven't seen here."

Exercises like RIMPAC promote closer military-to-military bonds that help establish clear lines of communication and focus collective efforts on today's regional and global challenges.

"This was the first joint operational drop conducted in Hawaii," said Capt. Michael Boyer, a 535th AS copilot. "The Marines were very accommodating and we look forward to working with them more in the future."

RIMPAC will include 14 nations, 34 ships, five submarines, more than 170 aircraft, and 20,000 people from Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Peru, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and the Unites States. Brazil, India and New Zealand will be sending observers.

The exercise runs from June 23 through Aug. 1 in the Hawaiian operating area in and around the islands of Hawaii.

Fifteen units from the Air Force and associated members will begin arriving here toward the end of the month as part of the combined air component for the exercise.