Exercise RIMPAC

Exercise RIMPAC
Map Legend        Host Nation      2014 Active      2014 Observers      Past Active      Past Observers
Headquarters	Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, U.S
Type	Military exercises
Members	22 Participants (RIMPAC 2014)    Australia  Brunei  Canada  Chile  China  Colombia  France  India  Indonesia  Japan  Malaysia  Mexico  Netherlands  New Zealand  Norway  Peru  Philippines  Singapore  South Korea  Tonga  United Kingdom  United States 6 Observers (RIMPAC 2014)    Bangladesh  Brazil  Denmark  Germany  Italy  Papua New Guinea 2 Past Active (Not active in 2014)    Russia  Thailand 2 Past Observers (Not observing in 2014)    Ecuador  Taiwan
Establishment	1971

RIMPAC, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii. It is hosted and administered by the United States Navy's Pacific Fleet, headquartered at Pearl Harbor, in conjunction with the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, and Hawaii National Guard forces under the control of the Governor of Hawaii. The US invites military forces from the Pacific Rim and beyond to participate. With RIMPAC the United States Pacific Command seeks to enhance interoperability between Pacific Rim armed forces, ostensibly as a means of promoting stability in the region to the benefit of all participating nations. Described by the US Navy as a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans.

The first RIMPAC, held in 1971, involved forces from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). Australia, Canada, and the US have participated in every RIMPAC since then. Other regular participants are Chile, Colombia, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Peru, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and the UK. The Royal New Zealand Navy was frequently involved until the 1985 ANZUS nuclear ships dispute, but has taken part in recent RIMPACs such as in 2012, 2014 And 2016.

Several observer nations are usually invited, including China, Ecuador, India, Mexico, the Philippines, and Russia, who became an active participant for the first time in 2012. While not contributing any ships, observer nations are involved in RIMPAC at the strategic level and use the opportunity to prepare for possible full participation in the future.

The United States contingent has included an aircraft carrier strike group, submarines, up to a hundred aircraft and 20,000 Sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and their respective officers. The size of the exercises varies from year to year.