VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOI News, Jakarta: The Indonesian Navy's Marine Corps is preparing its troops to participate in the 2024 Multilateral Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) Joint Training held by the United States Navy (USINDOPACOM) in Hawaii, the US.

According to a statement received on Friday from the Navy's Marine Corps Information Service, the preparations included a series of trainings at the Sutedi Senaputra Marine Corps, Karangpilang, Surabaya, East Java, for 14 days, starting from May 19 to June 1, 2024.

As reported by Antara (24/5) Commander of the Marine Task Force for the 2024 Rimpac Joint Training Major Lukman Susanto elaborated that the preparation exercise included checking on personnel and equipment readiness, deepening the material, and conducting several exercises, such as shooting and rappelling practice.

"This preparation exercise must be carried out by the task force participating in the joint training to support the 2024 Rimpac Joint Training in Hawaii next June," he noted.

The training also aims to boost the professionalism, loyalty, and combat skills of the Indonesian Navy Marine Corps soldiers, Susanto said.

In the planning for the exercise presented at a meeting at Fleet II Command Headquarters, Surabaya, last month, the Indonesian Navy prepared 43 soldiers from the Marine Corps and seven soldiers from the Frog Troop Command (Kopaska) for the 2024 Rimpac Joint Training. These troops will later join the 2024 Rimpac Task Force Joint Training led by Commander of navy ship (KRI) Raden Eddy Martadinata-331 Marine Colonel Adam Tjahja Saputra.

For this year's Rimpac Joint Training, the Indonesian Navy deployed the KRI Raden Eddy Martadinata-331, which is a warship from the Indonesian Navy's Second Fleet Command (Satkor) Eskorta Ship Unit.

On May 21, the warship conducted a firing test of the 76 Cannon in the north of Java Sea as part of the preparations.

Rimpac Joint Training is a maritime military exercise held routinely every two years by the United States Navy from the Joint Asia Pacific Defense Area Command (USINDOPACOM), stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The exercise, which was first held in 1971, usually takes place from mid-June to July.

Apart from troops from the Indonesian Navy, personnel from the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) are also prepared to join the training.

Head of Bakamla, Vice Admiral Irvansyah, shed light on the plans for Bakamla's participation in the 2024 Rimpac during his meeting with Deputy Commander of the United States Coast Guard (USGC), Admiral Steven D. Poulin, in Washington, D.C., the United States, on March 9, 2024. (Antara)