rimpac 2024 underway...

[aleshanee]

some of the ships from participating nations are still arriving.... . not that long ago
china was a major participant in rimpac... .,,,. but now chinese ships are cruising
many miles outside the defensive zone just keeping watch.... ..... they have been
doing that around these islands for a long time now...

 

[aleshanee]

3 days ago the USS Somerset - LPD 25 ..(a new design for amphibious assault ships)....
arrived at pearl harbor and was docked next to the us aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson ...
it will be taking part in this years rimpac naval exercises..... . i would love to go on board
on this ship but we won;t get that chance this year... .. we will however be able to go aboard
the uss vinson for it;s open house to navy personnel some time within the next 3 to 4 weeks
.... .... (i;m not sure exactly when though).....
.

 

[aleshanee]

what;s kinda sad is that this year the USS Tarawa LHA-1. .... will be towed out and sunk as a target for rimpac....... my dad and i went to the ceremony where the uss tarawa was decomissioned in 2009.... ... ever since then it;s been moored in the moth ball section of the west loch of pearl harbor.... .. .....i had no idea what that ceremony was going to be like... but it turned out to be very emotional for a lot of people... . i saw high ranking admirals break down and cry like children..... (apparently naval officers get really attached to their ships).... ..... .. below is a picture of the tarawa taken the day of it;s decomissioning....



and this is what it has looked like in the west loch where it went through salvage and decontamination work....

 

[abcaines]

The Tarawa was the first ship I saw after I joined the Navy. She was moving through San Diego Bay when I was in boot camp in 1982. Us recruits were fascinated by her and our company commander told us about serving aboard her a few years earlier.

I get the attachment that sailors have with their ships. I mean look at the pronoun we give them. When serving aboard a ship, being a member of the crew becomes your identity. Even the presence of a ship while you were in, such as the Tarawa for me, is significant. I've never set foot aboard her but seeing her that day... I identify her with that era in my life.

The problem with being a former sailor is looking at the Navy now and realizing it is not the same organization it once was. Just like visiting NAS Pensacola recently. I was looking for that connection to the base from back when it was my home... It wasn't there. I wasn't allowed to go to the places where I once lived and worked. I could only point in the direction and tell Angela, I was over there. She didn't see what I was seeing because she didn't know what to look for. It still meant a lot to me to take her near there but that part of my life just can no longer be visited.

 

[sword]

Once again aleshanee proves she has the best life going.

How cool to be there and to see that. Like going to an air show or a car show but the billion dollar ships with crews of 7000.

 

[aleshanee]

Once again aleshanee proves she has the best life going.

How cool to be there and to see that. Like going to an air show or a car show but the billion dollar ships with crews of 7000.

thank you.... ....it really is cool to see all the ships in person... ..and also to be able to go on board some of the foreign vessels during their open house that we never saw before or never got to go on board before... .......soon they will all head out to sea and we won;t see that much of them except at distances..... .... most of the ship to ship combat practice and especially the live fire exercises are carried out many miles out to sea in restricted zones.... ... but we have watched the amphibious assault exercise before and will probably see at least one of them again this year.. ... those are done on the windward side of the island at the beaches on bellows air field and the kaneohe marine base... ....

but one thing we are seeing lots of overhead is the military planes taking part in this... ... there are a lot of foriegn jets flying over and they will continue to be seen close to the island as they are being based at hickham... wheeler - and also kaneohe..... (with the exception of the us navy jets assigned to the uss carl vinson.... they all stay on the ship when not in action).... . ..

one year during rimpac an indian airforce pilot in a russian su 35... (or maybe su 37 ??)..... took off from the reef runway and flew in low at high speed almost directly over our building and then pulled straight up and roared into the clouds ... ..... not sure he was supposed to do that and the military had no official comment on it... .. but it was an awesome sight to see and i was glad just to be outside and see it... .. but people who did not see it still heard it and some were alarmed about what was happening..... F-22s permanently stationed here pull that same maneuver all the time - but they pull up while still over the open water to begin their ascent... ... i have a video of a pair of F-22s doing that from several years ago....

 

[aleshanee]

for the first time ever taiwan is taking part in rimpac.... .. and china is not happy about it...
.. only a few years ago china was a regular participant in rimpac.. .. but currently china has
ships cruising around taiwan and also the philipines as a way of protesting... .. chinese ships
are also cruising around hawaii in international waters... .outside of the areas being used for
rimpac.. ...russian ships are also out there from time to time.... ..but our navy can see what
they are up to a whole lot easier and more clearly than they can see us....

 

[abcaines]

for the first time ever taiwan is taking part in rimpac.... .. and china is not happy about it...
.. only a few years ago china was a regular participant in rimpac.. .. but currently china has
ships cruising around taiwan and also the philipines as a way of protesting... .. chinese ships
are also cruising around hawaii in international waters... .outside of the areas being used for
rimpac.. ...russian ships are also out there from time to time.... ..but our navy can see what
they are up to a whole lot easier and more clearly than they can see us....

And it is my prayer that we get rid of the senile administration that believes the purpose of the military is social experimentation.

 

[aleshanee]

And it is my prayer that we get rid of the senile administration that believes the purpose of the military is social experimentation.

from what i understand that has been going on since the clinton administration..... maybe even longer in ways they didn;t tell anyone about.... .. and experiments with drugs given to soldiers to enhance physical abilities and agressiveness has been going on at least since vietnam in our own military... and even longer than that in many foreign militarys.... . ....

the first social experiment in the military i remember was "don;t ask don;t tell" ....it was talked about a lot when i was young.... (used as joke punchlines a lot too).... ... and then after that came such a change in policy and an acceptance of alternate lifestyles in the services until i made a post in jest suggesting the marines change their official hymn from "halls of montezuma" to "liberation" by the pet shop boys....... .... but thankfully while the military brass may have had a woke moment the average marine in the field did not.... . they remained the hard core fighter they always were - even females who began joining up and becoming marines.....

but if you wanted to see an experiment in unrestrained military and civilian interactions after the military is turned loose on liberty for a few days ... just spend some time in waikiki when rimpac is over and thousands of sailors and marines ... (of both genders now)...descend on it....... .... a lot of local people protest rimpac based on that alone and want it ended... .. they say for decades it has put the islands daughters at risk and also it;s sons who find themselves defending female relatives against service men who see them as part of their post wargame entertainment....in recent years with more female sailors and marines from foreign services taking part even the islands younger sons are not safe.... . ..in many ways it;s even worse than halloween night in waikiki - which has gained an international reputation all it;s own.....

currently there are so many different groups protesting rimpac and for so many different reasons it;s hard to keep up with them all.... .even peta is protesting the effect is has on sea life - specifically on ocean mammals like seals , whales and etc.... ... ... . but what can we do?.... can;t please everybody.... .