613th AOC 'connects' RIMPAC 2008

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Chris Vadnais
  • Air Force News Agency
For the first time ever, Hickam's 613th Air and Space Operations Center is serving as the central hub for data and voice communications in a Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise.

Exercise RIMPAC 2008, the 21st in a series of significant international military exercises scheduled biennially by U.S. Pacific Fleet, is running now through the end of July.

RIMPAC is designed to increase the tactical proficiency of participating units in a wide array of combined operations at sea. By enhancing interoperability--joint and coalition cooperation--RIMPAC promotes stability in the Pacific Rim region. The 613th AOC is equipped to ensure the flow of communication between all the exercise's players.

"Having the 613th AOC as the hub of the RIMPAC exercise is not going to make the exercise different; it's just going to make it better," said Lt. Gen. Loyd "Chip" Utterback, 13th Air Force commander.

"What we do when we exercise is we train, and having multiple nations and all our services together at the same time in the place where we would normally do the command and control [in a real-world contingency] enhances our training and makes us even better as warfighters," he said.

While working closely with other services and allied nations can be tough work, most leaders say it's rewarding.

"We learn an awful lot from working with our joint and coalition partners," said Col. Randy Moser, the deputy chief of combat operations in the 613th AOC.

"This is a great opportunity for us to work and build those relationships too, so that in a time of crisis or any particular operation we know and understand how each of the various components work," he said.

RIMPAC 2008 brings units from Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Netherlands, Peru, Republic of Korea, Singapore, United Kingdom and the U.S. to participate, while India, Colombia, Mexico, and Russia are scheduled to send observers.

The exercise employs 35 ships, six submarines, more than 150 aircraft and 20,000 Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Soldiers and Coastguardsmen.