Managing 1500 Australian Personnel Akin to Running a Defense Base During RIMPAC 2022

Courtesy Photo | FORD ISLAND (July 30, 2022) Royal Australian Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brittany Cotton works at the Australian National Command Element at Navy Lodge in Hawaii during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022. Twenty-six nations, 38 ships, three submarines, more than 170 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 29 to Aug. 4 in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity while fostering and sustaining cooperative relationships among participants critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2022 is the 28th exercise in the series that began in 1971. (Photo by Royal Australian Navy Leading Seaman Daniel Goodman)  

FORD ISLAND, HAWAII, UNITED STATES

07.31.2022

Courtesy Story

Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet           

Managing 1500 Australian Personnel Akin to Running a Defense Base During RIMPAC 2022

Story by Australian Navy Lt. Cmdr. Anthony White

Managing the Australian Defense Force (ADF) presence during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022 in Hawaii since June 24 feels like coordinating a small defense base according to Royal Australian Navy commander in charge. His responsibility is to ensure things run smoothly for the Sailors, Soldiers and aviators participating in the exercise.

ADF Cmdr. Michael Miller has been seconded from his day job as the commanding officer of a naval base on Sydney Harbor, HMAS Waterhen, and is the Chief of Staff to the Commander of the Australian National Command Element (ASNCE), Commodore Paul O’Grady.

For Miller, the role is pretty similar to managing the needs of any group of 1500 people with some added defense-specific challenges to ensure that they can successfully participate in RIMPAC.

“The 1500 ADF personnel in Hawaii come from all three different services and all over Australia,” said Miller. “Getting them here safely, looking after their needs and getting them home when they need to go is a significant undertaking.”

He said there have been 77 ADF working in the ASNCE alongside additional medical, logistic and administrative personnel.

“We also have had communications and IT specialists to manage our information flow, public affairs and chaplaincy roles along with a dedicated human resources function to support the needs of our people in theatre so they can focus on their job,” he said.

Miller said all these tasks have been achieved by team of dedicated service members who had very did not know each other until they got here, yet were stood up and functioning in a matter of hours.

“This is something the ADF does really well whether in exercises or real-life situations,” he said. “A lot of the principles and processes are familiar to us because they look a lot like how a defense base would be run back home.”

Twenty-six nations, 38 ships, three submarines, more than 170 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 29 to Aug. 4 in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity while fostering and sustaining cooperative relationships among participants critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2022 is the 28th exercise in the series that began in 1971.

• Date Taken: 07.31.2022
• Date Posted: 08.02.2022 21:38
• Story ID: 426287
• Location: FORD ISLAND, HAWAII, US