What’s INSIDE
July 20, 2018
Preparing for disaster See page A-2
USS Hawaii participates in submarine insertion See page A-4
Kick back with a concert See page B-1
www.issuu.com/navyregionhawaii www.hookelenews.com
“Midway” needs extras See page B-5
Volume 9 Issue 28
RIMPAC on target Courtesy Story
U.S. 3rd Fleet Public Affairs Live fire from aircraft, a submarine and land assets participating in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise sank the decommissioned exUSS Racine (LST-1191) July 12 in waters 15,000 feet deep 55 nautical miles north of Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. PMRF is the world’s largest instrumented multi-environmental range capable of supported surface, air, and space operations simultaneously. Units from Australia, Japan and the U.S. participated in the sinking exercise (SINKEX), which provided them the opportunity to gain proficiency in tactics, targeting and live firing against a surface target at sea. “Today, we demonstrated the lethality and adaptability of our joint forces in the maritime environment,” said Adm. Phil Davidson, commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. “As naval forces drive our enemies into the littorals, army forces can strike them. Conversely, when the army drives
our enemies out to sea naval firepower can do the same.” The SINKEX featured live firing of surface-to-ship missiles by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and a Naval Strike Missile (NSM) from a launcher on the back of a Palletized Load System (PLS) by the U.S. Army. This marks the first time a land-based unit has participated in the live-fire event during RIMPAC. This year was also the first time a Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon aircraft has participated in a SINKEX during RIMPAC. “With numerous warships, allied submarines, multiple strike aircraft and multi-domain land forces participating, this SINKEX was an extremely valuable part of RIMPAC,” said Royal Canadian Navy Rear Adm. Bob Auchterlonie, deputy commander of the RIMPAC Combined Task Force. “SINKEXs are an important way for us to test our weapons and weapons systems in a way that provides our ships’ companies, our submariners, our aircrews, and our land forces with the most realistic
training possible.” Former U.S. Navy vessels used in SINKEXs, referred to as hulks, are prepared in strict compliance with regulations prescribed and enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under a general permit the U.S. Navy holds pursuant to the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act. Each SINKEX is required to sink the hulk in at least 1,000 fathoms (6,000 feet) of water and at least 50 nautical miles from land. Surveys are conducted to ensure that people and marine mammals are not in an area where they could be harmed during the event. Prior to the vessel being transported for participation in a SINKEX, each vessel is put through a rigorous cleaning process. The process includes the removal of all polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), transformers and large capacitors, all small capacitors to the greatest extent practical, trash, floatable materials, mercury or fluorocarbon-containing materials and readily detachable solid
PCB items. Petroleum is also cleaned from tanks, piping and reservoirs. A U.S. Navy environmental, safety and health manager and a quality assurance supervisor inspect the environmental remediation conducted in preparation of a vessel’s use in a SINKEX. Upon completion of the environmental remediation, the manager and supervisor provide signed certification of the work in accordance with EPA requirements. Racine was the second ship to bear the name of the Wisconsin city. The ship was the 13th of 20 ships of the improved Newport-class of Landing Ship, Tank (LST) built to replace the traditional LSTs of World War II. Throughout Racine’s 22 years of service, the ship conducted several western Pacific deployments including one during the Vietnam War where Racine provided troop and material transport. PMRF has over 1,100 square miles of instrumented underwater range and over 42,000 square miles of controlled space. U.S. Navy photo by MCCM Brian Brannon
JASDF surgeon general visits PACAF Story and photo by Tech. Sgt. Zachary Vaughn PACAF Public Affairs U . S . A i r F o r c e C o l . ( D r. ) Lee Harvis, Pacific Air Forces command surgeon, and Japan Air Self-Defense Force (Koku Jietai), Maj. Gen. Shinya Bekku, surgeon general, met at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam , for their first face-to-face meeting July 9-12. The talks gave them an opportunity to share medical services lessons learned, subjectmatter expert exchanges and ways forward for future interoperability. “It’s critical to build bilateral ties with our Japan Air SelfDefense Force counterparts,” Harvis said. “Sharing medical capabilities breaks down barriers and opens doors for regional engagements.” The bilateral exchange highlighted past multinational exercise successes and addressed objectives for U.S. and Japanese patient support across the continuum of care to include 5th
generation aircraft pilots. “We hope to further the development of innovative training and support for aeromedical evacuation, F-35 pilots and humanitarian operations,” Harvis said. The discussions focused on joint partnerships and training opportunities meant to spark positive process improvements for the two allied air forces. “Sharing knowledge and experiences with one another is very important for building relationships and developing an innovative mindset,” Bekku said. “Innovation is very important throughout all areas of military operations, including training. It’s a mechanism for us to change our thinking in order to solve regional challenges.” The successful meeting laid the ground work for future bilateral U.S. and Koku Jieitai medical career field engagements and enhanced training and support throughout the IndoPacific region. U.S. Air Force Capt. Warren Carter, operations element chief, 18th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, “We are stronger together,” Det 1, speaks with Japan Air Self Defense Force (Koku Jieitai), Maj. Gen. Shinya Bekku, surgeon Bekku said. general, aboard a C-17 Globemaster III at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, July 11.