(Pearl Harbor – July 201) Seaman Thomas Quinlan, a Syracuse native, pulls a mooring line around a capstan as the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) prepares to depart Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
Ronald Reagan is currently in the Hawaii area of operations for Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2014. Twenty-two nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC exercise from June 26 to Aug. 1, in and around the Hawaiian Islands. The world’s largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides 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. RIMPAC 2014 is the 24th exercise in the series that began in 1971.