With over 200 aircraft and some 25,000 personnel
participating in the Rim of the Pacific, the multinational maritime exercise is
proving a significant challenge for the airmen of the 15th Operations Support
Squadron Airfield Management Flight at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. TSgt.
Bryan Masters, the 15th OSS airfield management operations noncommissioned
officer-in-charge said a staff of 10 airmen spent four months coming up with
a
parking plan at the base to accommodate all the aircraft for the biennial
exercise, which runs through August 1. “We’ve had to get creative with our
aircraft parking plan,” he said. This year’s exercise will include the most
aircraft RIMPAC has hosted in 24 years, including F-15Cs, F-16s, F-22s, HH-60
Pave Hawks, C-130Js, as well as aircraft from other services and participating
allied nations. Masters said USAF criteria for parking and staging aircraft are
different for some joint partners. To ensure more efficient helicopter
operations, Masters’ team built a temporary helipad on the flight line in the
hopes of streamlining helicopter landing and parking operations, which would
help better flow through the field, he added.
