PN gets RIMPAC exposure

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 2): PN gets RIMPAC exposure

In a bid to further professionalize the Philippine Navy (PN), two of its officers will be deployed to participate in this year's RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific Exercise).

Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Fabic said that the unnamed officers will be attending the RIMPAC planning conference in California this April.

"And the same officers will be attending the actual exercises (off) Hawaii on July. The said officers will act as staff officers during the exercises," he added.

And when asked whether these PN officials will be observing the exercises aboard one of the naval vessels, Fabic stressed that this will be determined during the planning conference.

"Usually they join other staff in (US Pacific Fleet) headquarters (in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii) during exercises. They will act as staff officers during the war games," the PN spokesperson stressed.

RIMPAC is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise.

It is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii.

It is hosted and administered by the United States Navy's Pacific Fleet, headquartered at Pearl Harbor, in conjunction with the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, and Hawaii National Guard forces under the control of the Governor of Hawaii.

The US invites allied military forces from the Pacific Rim nations to participate.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=621275