There is NO better place to showcase USAʻS blatent disregard
for PEACE , INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND FREEDOM like the ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED SOVEREIGN "NEUTRAL" NATION of HAWAIʻI that was PEACEFULLY FILLED WITH ALOHA .
humm, USA HOME OF THE GREED AND LAND OF THE SLAVES.
Posted on: Thursday, April 29, 2010
Hawaii to host
RIMPAC naval
maneuvers this
summer
Isle businesses expect boost
from bienennial event
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
A naval exercise that brings to Hawai'i's shores
thousands of service members from the U.S. and
foreign nations, an aircraft carrier, beach
landings — and millions in Waikīkī
tourist dollars — is returning between late June
and early August.
The U.S. Navy hasn't yet released all the details
for the 2010 Rim of the Pacific war games, but
the last time the biennial exercise was held in
2008, there were 10 countries, 35 ships, six
submarines and 150 aircraft involved.
A total of 20,000 sailors, airmen, Marines,
soldiers and Coast Guardsmen participated.
"The reason that we do it is to make sure that
there's stability throughout the Pacific Rim," said
Chief Petty Officer Terry Rhedin, a Navy
pokesperson in San Diego.
RIMPAC, one of the world's largest maritime
exercises, also provides an opportunity for allied
nations to improve interoperability and
communications.
The U.S., Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia,
Singapore and the Netherlands will be among
participants this year, Rhedin said.
Chile will be an observer and Russia "was given
an invitation (to be an observer )," Rhedin said. "I
don't know if they've accepted."
Ships to be sunk
A U.S. aircraft carrier and amphibious assault
ship — as yet unidentified — will be two of the
biggest ships involved.
The former USS Coronado, an amphibious
transport dock ship that was commissioned in
1970, used as a command ship and was
decommissioned in 2006, will be one of several
warships that will be sunk as part of the training,
Rhedin said.
Rhedin said yesterday she didn't have the
approximate number of foreign and U.S. service
members taking part in RIMPAC, but it is in the
"thousands." The Navy said the exercise
timeframe is from about June 23 to Aug. 2.
In 2004 and 2006, the RIMPAC exercise was
estimated to have brought in more than $20
million in spending in Honolulu, Rhedin said.
Lucy Lau, marketing coordinator for the Hale Koa
Hotel, said the exercise provides an extra
summertime boost in Waikīkī.
"It helps us a lot. In RIMPAC years our hotel is a
little more bustling" and food and beverage sales
increase, she said.
The Hale Koa is one of five U.S. armed forces
recreation centers around the world and is
operated by the Army, Lau said.
Lau said some families fly in to be with relatives
taking part in the exercise. Service members
have some free time at the beginning and end of
RIMPAC, she said.
"Normally, that break is good for everyone in
Waikīkī because all of those sailors
are going to come in from all different
countries," Lau said. "So Waikīkī
bustles at that time."
Four ships were sunk in the 2008 war games off
Kaua'i including the destroyers Fletcher, David R.
Ray and Cushing; and the cruiser Horne.
Heavyweight Mk-48 torpedoes and Harpoon
missiles were among the armaments used in the
"sinkex" drills.
This year's exercise is the 22nd in a series of
RIMPAC exercises conducted since 1971.
The USS John C. Stennis, left, and the USS Abraham Lin-coln pull alongside each other during the 2000RIMPAC.
Advertiser library photo
Crew members of the USS Abraham Lincoln watch an F-18 Hornet glide into the air carrier's "trap,"arresting hook down, ready to catch the arresting cable. Advertiser library photo |
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