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15 OSS gears up for RIMPAC

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Lauren Main
  • 15th Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii --  With more than 850 Airmen arriving at Hickam for the Rim of the Pacific military exercise and the bed-down of aircraft on the 15th Wing flightline, it's likely to be a busy few weeks for the 15th Operations Support Squadron.

On a normal day, approximately 30 sorties are flown in and out of Hickam, but on an average RIMPAC exercise day more than 85 sorties are flown. This increase equates to 183-percent more activity during the week, and a 275-percent boost of activity throughout the weekend.

"It maxes us out," said Eastland, "but it's a good test of our capabilities. We've been working closely with our Joint Base partners, and we've been receiving great support from them too."

According to Eastland, supporting the arrival of so many foreign aircraft and other RIMPAC specific requirements - along with maintaining responsibility for normal day-to-day mission including distinguished visitor arrivals, routine sorties, and general airlift support of the Pacific theater - isn't anything the Airmen of the 15th OSS can't handle.

"We have to be ready for any contingency," said Eastland. "If any natural disaster occurs, or humanitarian relief is needed, we have to be able to support that too. We're ready for anything."

The 15th Operations Support Squadron's mission statement vows to supply world-class combat aircrew support across the full spectrum of air operations throughout the Pacific theater with a dedicated team of motivated military and civilian professionals who constantly strive for excellence and the opportunity to meet challenges head-on. This latest trial on the 15th OSS's radar, in the form of RIMPAC 2012, does indeed appear to be challenging.

"The [Air Force portion of the] exercise is way bigger this year," said Lt. Col. Kevin Eastland, 15th OSS commander. "It's almost twice the size of the last exercise. In the past, we had approximately 30 aircraft on our ramp, this year it's more than 50 aircraft."

RIMPAC is the world's largest maritime exercise, occurring every two years in the warm, blue waters off Hawaii's coast. Canada, Korea, Australia and 19 other countries, are all players in the joint-force naval exercise. RIMPAC consists of international force integration training to build partnership capacity and interoperability between the multilateral navies and air forces. Should any contingency, requiring global efforts, arise in the Pacific, the nations could work together to solve the issue without conflict.