PEARL HARBOR — On June 16, the World Famous Black Eagles of VAW-113 embarked upon USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) to participate in the 22nd biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise.
RIMPAC is the world’s largest multinational maritime exercise and allows participating countries to promote stability in the Pacific Rim region by practicing interoperability and maritime cooperation. Participating countries spent the duration of the exercise practicing various aspects of operations at sea in pursuit of continued regional maritime security.
The Black Eagles provided airborne command and control, air intercept control and airspace deconfliction during the three phases of the exercise. Participating aircraft looked to the Black Eagles for control navigating and fighting within the complex airspace in the operating areas around Hawaii.
With the exercise nearly complete and 87 events flown, the Black Eagles had proven themselves an asset to both CSG-7 and 3rd fleet. The VAW-113 maintenance team dedicated more than 8,500 man hours to ensure that the four E-2C aircraft were in pristine condition and mission ready.
In all, 32 ships, five submarines, 170 aircraft, and nearly 20,000 Sailors, Marines, Airmen, and Soldiers from 14 countries participated in RIMPAC. The complex exercise brought participants together to work towards the theme of RIMPAC 2010, “Combined Agility, Synergy and Support.”
“This is the largest RIMPAC that we’ve had,” said Vice Adm. Richard Hunt, commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet. “This exercise clearly focuses on maritime domain awareness, dealing with expanded military operations across the complete spectrum of warfare.”
The nuclear aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was the centerpiece of the exercise, as well as flagship for Carrier Strike Group 7.
“USS Ronald Reagan is a key component of RIMPAC 2010,” said Capt. Kenneth J. Norton, commanding officer. “The ability to have an aircraft carrier and carrier air wing as part of a combined coalition task force is of great benefit to the varied naval units participating.”
As the RIMPAC exercise winds down, the Black Eagles are looking ever forward as their pre-deployment workups continue.
After two weeks in Point Mugu, VAW-113 will leave for airwing exercises at Naval Air Station, Fallon, Nev. At Airwing Fallon, CVW-14 will work to increase tactical proficiency before commencing composite unit training in preparation for an upcoming deployment.