Twenty-five nations, 46 surface ships, five submarines, 17 national land forces, and more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel will participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise scheduled June 27 to Aug. 2, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California.
As the world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity designed to foster and sustain cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's interconnected oceans. RIMPAC 2018 is the 26th exercise in the series that began in 1971.
The theme of RIMPAC 2018 is "Capable, Adaptive, Partners." Participating nations and forces will 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 amphibious operations, gunnery, missile, anti-submarine and air defense exercises, as well as counter-piracy operations, mine clearance operations, explosive ordnance disposal, and diving and salvage operations.
This year's exercise includes forces from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.
Marine Corps Participation
The Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Hawaii (MAGTF-HI) Marines are comprised of III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) units based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay.
The MAGTF-HI will exercise its ability to conduct amphibious operations by forcible entry using a variety of methods, including operational maneuver from the sea by long range raid, amphibious assault by amphibious vehicles, and seizure of aerial ports to enable follow-on joint force operations.
The Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Southern California (MAGTF-SOCAL) Marines are comprised of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). MAGTF-SOCAL will be participating in the Southern California portion of RIMPAC. The SoCal portion of the exercise focuses on amphibious contingency operations and interoperability between the U.S. and partner nations.