The Colombian Navy’s frigate ARC “Almirante Padilla”, along with its Bo-105 type helicopter and a detachment of Marine Special Forces, represented Colombia in the 2014 RIMPAC naval exercises alongside 22 other nations.
The vessel returned to the Naval ARC “Bolívar” Base in Cartagena on September 11 with more than 110 crew members who successfully participated in the RIMPAC 2014 naval operation.
This was the first time that Colombia took part in an exercise of this proportion. The Navy officers previously attended the exercises as observers or members of staffs formed to control operations. Since the early 50s, when Colombia was actively involved in the Korean War, no warship of the Navy had sailed so far into the Pacific in order to be part of a multinational naval force as experienced in Operation RIMPAC 2014.
In Hawaii, Colombia became part of exercises related to humanitarian disaster relief, maritime control operations and complex naval operations in the areas of anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, anti-air warfare and amphibious operations. Also, in combat exercises transnational crimes such as piracy, human trafficking, drug trafficking and search and rescue operations.
Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise 2014 involved twenty-two nations, 49 ships, six submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel participating in the exercise from June 26 to Aug. 1, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California.