RIMPAC provides platform for former shipmates to work together again

“Wherever they go, there’s bound to be friends from back home.”

So goes the Alasdair Macdonald song ‘Heading for Halifax’.

Lieutenant Commander (LCdr) Stephen Wall found that particularly true when he arrived in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022.

LCdr Wall, Operations Officer in Her Majesty’s Australian Ship (HMAS) Supply, was born and raised on Cape Breton Island, N.S., and served the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) for 16 years as a Naval Warfare Officer, much of it in Esquimalt-based ships, before joining the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

The exercise was a great opportunity to re-connect with many former shipmates on the Canadian frigates also alongside in Pearl Harbor for RIMPAC – including his former Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Calgary shipmate Commander Kevin Whiteside, now HMCS Vancouver’s Commanding Officer.

LCdr Wall reached out to schedule a visit for his RAN team to discuss Close-In Weapons System (CIWS) 1B training and maintenance on HMAS Supply. The CIWS 1B is less widely employed on Australian ships, but his Canadian counterparts are well-versed in the weapon system located on the hangar top of each Halifax­-class ship.

“It was a great opportunity to leverage the deep technical knowledge of the system that RCN operators are known for,” said LCdr Wall. “We shared technical and training ideas and practices to improve both of our teams.”

The cross-deck evolution helped the Australian sailors develop their understanding of the weapons system and obtain helpful tips and tricks from seasoned CIWS operators and maintainers.

“We discussed a wide variety of topics, both procedure-based and concept-based,” explained Sailor 1^st Class Joop Koerten, Weapons Engineering Technician and Vancouver CIWS subject-matter-expert. “With the maintainers, I shared my techniques for maintenance procedures, products I prefer to use, and the areas that need special attention to keep the system healthy.”

The opportunity for cross-deck evolutions was built into RIMPAC’s shore phase, and the Vancouver crew took every additional opportunity to work with partner nations and allies.

The training that took place outside the planned RIMPAC evolutions not only improved the ship’s capacity for interoperability between nations, but it also formed new friendships and strengthened old ones.

Those friendships and relationships will continue to create future opportunities to learn from each other as Vancouver carries on with allies in support of Operations PROJECTION and NEON upon completion of RIMPAC.

RIMPAC is the world’s largest international maritime exercise and provides unique training opportunities, while cultivating and sustaining cooperative relationships critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world’s oceans.

Twenty-six nations, 38 surface ships, four submarines, nine national land forces, more than 30 unmanned systems, approximately 170 aircrafts and more than 25,000 personnel are training and operating in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California until Aug 4.

RIMPAC 2022 is the 28th exercise in the series that began in 1971.

S1 Koerten says hosting sailors from HMAS Supply was the highlight of his first RIMPAC. He says it the experience fostered rapport and the opportunity to gain extensive knowledge from fellow sailors.

“RIMPAC is incredible; it’s like the all-stars for our line of work. It’s the perfect time to get exposure to other naval systems and develop your skillset. The diversity of everyone’s individual training and experiences creates a wealth of knowledge that everyone can learn from.”