By Megan Lemly, Navy Office of Community Outreach
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii – Petty Officer 3rd Class Julio Noel, a former resident of Nashville, Tennessee, serves aboard USS Essex, a U.S. Navy warship participating in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise in and around the Hawaiian Islands.
Noel graduated from Arima Senior Comprehensive School in Trinidad and Tobago in 2010 and joined the Navy four years ago.
“I joined the Navy for stability,” Noel said. “I used to play professional soccer for 17 years but had an interruption with my agent. I needed to look for something more stable, so I decided to join the military.”
Today, Noel serves as an aviation boatswain’s mate (handling).
As the world’s largest international maritime exercise, 31 nations, approximately 40 surface ships, five submarines, 14 national land forces, over 140 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel will participate in RIMPAC 2026. This exercise 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 2026 marks the 30th exercise in a series that began in 1971.
The theme of RIMPAC 2026 is “Partners: Integrated and Prepared.” 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.
It is fitting that the world’s premier maritime exercise occurs as the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary. For 250 years, the United States has built relationships with international partners based on trust, cooperation, and shared values. RIMPAC is where that trust is put into practice, strengthening the people-to-people relationships that are the bedrock of all the nations’ collective security.
Noel plays an important role in the exercise.
“I serve on the flight deck and am responsible for making sure aircraft and pilots are safe,” Noel said. “During RIMPAC, I am looking forward to visiting Mexico and South Korea’s ships. I’ve already played soccer with a couple of sailors from Mexico.”
Noel serves a Navy that operates far forward, around the world and around the clock, promoting the nation’s prosperity and security.
“Serving in the Navy means a lot to me because I am the first in my family to join the U.S. military,” Noel said. “I have twins, and I am like Superman to them. I don’t know if they will follow in my footsteps, but I want to be an inspiration to them and to those younger than me.”
Noel is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.
“I want to thank God first for allowing me to be alive and be in this position,” Noel added. “A lot of people can’t serve, so I am very grateful to be here. I also want to thank my two boys, Jakai and Jakodi, for being my inspiration. I want to thank my entire family as well for being my support system and for helping me become the person I am today. Lastly, I want to thank myself for believing in me and for believing that I can keep going.”
Hosted by Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, RIMPAC 2026 will be led by Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet, Rear Adm. Richard Meyer, who will serve as Combined Task Force (CTF) commander. Chile will fill the role of deputy commander of the CTF, and Japan will fill the role of vice commander. The Republic of Korea will command the maritime component, and Canada will command the air component.
During RIMPAC, a network of capable, adaptive partners train and operate together in order to strengthen their collective forces and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific. RIMPAC 2026 contributes to the increased interoperability, resiliency and agility needed by the Joint and Combined Force to deter and defeat aggression by major powers across all domains and levels of conflict.
