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This year's biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise will kick off in late June, the Navy announced Tuesday.
RIMPAC 2024 will be the 29th exercise since the practice began in 1971, with approximately 29 countries taking part in this year’s event between June 26 and August 2 in and around the Hawaiian Islands. About 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, over 150 aircraft and over 25,000 personnel will also be present, according to a press release.
The exercise promotes “a free and open Indo-Pacific,” leveraging multinational partnerships and interoperability methods, the press release adds.
“For the first time in RIMPAC history, a member of the Chilean Navy, Commodore Alberto Guerrero, will serve as deputy commander of the CTF,” according to the Navy’s press release. “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.”
The exercise comes during a time of heightened Chinese military aggression in the Pacific, a threat also discussed in 2022’s RIMPAC exercise. Regular communication and cooperation between allies are important for this reason, Third Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Michael Boyle said in 2022 following that year’s RIMPAC.
“We’ve already shown the world that we are really like-minded and we’re willing to work together to get better, to work at this partnership and send a signal globally,” Boyle said at the time. “With everything else going on, it’s still important to come together and build these relationships.”