Guam may host final phase
of RIMPAC 2002 exercise
By Donovan Brooks, Guam bureau chief
FINEGAYAN
— Guam is expected to play a role next year in the biennial Rim of the Pacific
exercise.
The Guam
phase of RIMPAC would follow exercises off Hawaii, said spokeswoman Lt. Monica Richardson,
but remains on the planning board.
U.S.
Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Thomas Fargo told members of Guam’s business community
here Saturday that RIMPAC would have a final, new phase off Guam, and would conclude with
port visits by several navies to the American territory.
The
additional phase would encourage more Southeast Asian countries to participate in a
multi-national naval exercise, Richardson said.
Australia,
Japan, Canada, Chile, South Korea and the United Kingdom joined U.S. forces in the
biennial exercise last year.
The USS
Abraham Lincoln carrier battle group could play a role in RIMPAC exercises off Guam, the
Navy said Tuesday.
The battle
group is scheduled to be in the area during its 2002 six-month deployment to the Western
Pacific. The Navy wants to weave the carrier and its support ships into RIMPAC, Richardson
said.
RIMPAC is
the largest maritime exercise in the world, according to the Navy.
Last year,
some 20,000 personnel, 50 ships and 200 aircraft took part in the exercise in and around
Hawaii.
Guam has
never had a RIMPAC role before, although the island is regularly used for other training
exercises, like Tandem Thrust.
"It’s
an opportunity to take advantage of all the wonderful training and support capabilities
that Guam offers an exercise of this sort," Richardson said.
Guam is
home to the Navy’s Apra Harbor base, as well as a magazine that serves the 7th Fleet
and a communications station that links ships in the region to Navy headquarters in Hawaii
and Washington, D.C. Andersen Air Force Base is also on Guam.
The Navy
maintains training areas in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, about 100
miles north of Guam.
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