Palm trees, beaches and beautiful weather were the perfect combination to hold the annual Rim of the Pacific 2006 exercise. VP-1s Combat Air Crews (CAC) 6 and 9 travelled to Hawaii at the beginning of July and participate in the multinational exercise, more commonly referred to as RIMPAC 2006. Over 40 ships, six submarines, 160 aircraft and almost 19,000 Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Soldiers and Coast Guardsmen take part in this training operation every year.

RIMPAC is a major, month-long maritime exercise conducted in the waters off Hawaii and is intended to enhance the tactical proficiency of participating units in a wide array of combined operations at sea. By enhancing interoperability, RIMPAC helps to promote stability in the Pacific Rim region to the benefit of all participating nations.

At the same time, this exercise brings together land, air and naval military units from other countries, such as Australia, Canada, Chile, Peru, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom.

All participants conducted safe and successful maritime patrol and reconnaissance missions. Specifically, 28 aircraft flew 260 sorties and over 1,500 hundred hours, meeting 1,102 of 1,107 on-station hours.

CAC 6 and 9 operated out of Kaneohe Bay (Marine Corps Base Hawaii) from July 3-28 in support of RIMPAC, participating in over 15 tactical events with a 95 percent success rate. RIMPAC gave crew members high tempo coordinated operations that few exercises can match, resulting in countless quality training evolutions.

Off-duty time was spent visiting historical sites around Hawaii such as the USS Missouri and the USS Arizona memorials. RIMPAC proved to not only enrich the Screaming Eagles tactically and professionally, but personally as well.