North Smithfield native takes part in international maritime warfare exercise
PEARL HARBOR – A 2014 North Smithfield High School graduate and North Smithfield, Rhode Island, native is serving in the U.S. Navy as part of the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC).
Petty Officer 2nd Class Matt Lachance is a sonar technician aboard USS O’Kane, currently operating out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
A Navy sonar technician is responsible for identifying underwater threats, tracking submarines, looking for mines and firing torpedoes.
Lachance applies the lessons he learned from North Smithfield to his work in the Navy.
“Playing sports growing up taught me a lot about teamwork and discipline,” said Lachance.
As the world’s largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring safety at sea and security on the world’s oceans. RIMPAC 2018 is the 26th exercise in the series that began in 1971.
The theme of RIMPAC 2018 is Capable, Adaptive, Partners. The participating nations and forces exercise a wide range of capabilities and demonstrate the inherent flexibility of maritime forces. These capabilities range from disaster relief and maritime security operations to sea control and complex warfighting. The relevant, realistic training program includes, gunnery, missile, anti-submarine and air defense exercises, as well as amphibious, counter-piracy, mine clearance operations, explosive ordnance disposal and diving and salvage operations.
“I’m looking forward to interacting with different nations and getting to know new people while experiencing different cultures,” said Lachance.
This is the first time Israel, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are participating in RIMPAC. Additional firsts include New Zealand serving as sea combat commander and Chile serving as combined force maritime component commander. This is the first time a non-founding RIMPAC nation (Chile) will hold a component commander leadership position.
“I’m most proud of obtaining the rank of petty officer second class as soon as I was eligible for promotion,” said Lachance.
Twenty-six nations, 46 surface ships, five submarines, and more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel will participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercise. This year’s exercise includes forces from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.
As a member of the U.S. Navy, Lachance and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.
“Serving my country is a great honor and I take a lot of pride in my service,” said Lachance. “It’s something I’ll look back on and always appreciate.”
Additional information about RIMPAC is available at http://www.cpf.navy.mil