Midshipmen participate in RIMPAC
8/4/2010
by Lt. j.g. Jordan Adler
USS Benfold Public Affairs
USS BENFOLD, At Sea (NNS) -- Midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) and various Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) units were embarked aboard USS Benfold (DDG 65) during the 22nd Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise.

Each summer, groups of midshipmen have the opportunity to embark surface ships to experience life at sea.

During their stay, midshipmen shadow an enlisted or officer running mate, are integrated into the ship's crew and have the opportunity to participate in evolutions, such as damage control training, watchstanding, combat system scenarios and seamanship drills.

"At the Naval Academy we learn a lot about leadership and naval science and this cruise has given me a realistic snapshot of how junior officers in the SWO (surface warfare) community uphold these standards on a daily basis," said Midshipman 1st Class Tyler Whitmore. "Specifically, I learned a lot from the different levels of experience - from the most junior Sailor to the first and second tour division officers, all the way to the commanding officer."

RIMPAC, a biennial event hosted by Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, involves 14 nations, 32 ships, five submarines, more than 170 aircraft and 20,000 personnel June 23 to Aug. 1 around the Hawaiian operating areas and islands. RIMPAC is a multinational exercise that prepares forces to be interoperable and ready for a wide range of potential operations. This, in turn, helps ensure stability through the Pacific rim, aiding the development and prosperity of all participating nations.

"I cannot emphasize how lucky these midshipmen are to be witnessing RIMPAC. The ability to see how multinational forces operate together and establish a working relationship, coupled with the numerous live firing exercises, specifically the Harpoon, is beneficial to their professional knowledge and experience," said Cmdr. Kevin Brand, Benfold's commanding officer. "In addition to the plethora of evolutions during RIMPAC, midshipmen have also benefited from following our crew around, learning their job and how they all contribute to ensuring our operational schedule is executed."

Midshipmen have participated in three of the four phases, including scheduling of events (SOE), force integration training (FIT) and tactical phases.

During the SOE phase, multiple gunnery, missile, anti-submarine, air defense and maritime security operation (MSO) exercises were conducted. The FIT phase consists of integrated training within the air, land and maritime forces in preparation for the tactical phase. In the culminating RIMPAC phase, units participate in a warlike scenario, allowing operating forces to react to real world contingencies and combat operations.

Through all of the evolutions, Benfold will have launched two standard missiles (SM-2s); a Harpoon; a Vertically Launched Anti-Submarine Rocket torpedo; an over-the-side torpedo and more than 100, 5-inch rounds.

"The amount of evolutions within the RIMPAC exercise has been an eye-opening experience for me. The multiple live fire evolutions combined with the number of warfare scenarios has brought my professional knowledge from text to reality," said Midshipman 1st Class Eric Smith. "A significant chunk of the crew has never seen some of the missile or torpedo launches, and I consider myself lucky that I am witnessing these events first-hand and with less than four years in the Navy."

While underway for RIMPAC, Benfold hosted a film crew from the upcoming movie "Battleship." A handful of midshipmen were provided the opportunity to act as background personnel in a few of the scenes.

Benfold is one of 32 ships that participated in the RIMPAC 2010 exercise in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of responsibility and is a part of Carrier Strike Group 7 and Destroyer Squadron 7.