Expect noise, risk to marine life, garage door glitches and $52.5M from RIMPAC
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Crewmen on the Chinese missile destroyer Xian watched Wednesday as the guided-missile frigate Hengshui docked in Pearl Harbor.
The bad news is that the Navy’s Rim of the Pacific exercises are bringing crowds, added aircraft noise and some faulty garage door activity through the end of July.
The good news is an initial $52.5 million boost to Hawaii’s economy, based on the number of exercise participants and time in port, with an impact of tens of millions more expected after purchases of supplies, fuel and food, and spending by family and friends of participating personnel are figured in, according to Navy Region Hawaii.
Twenty-six nations, 45 ships, five submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel will participate in the biennial RIMPAC exercise, which got underway Thursday and wraps up Aug. 4, mostly in and around the Hawaiian Islands but also in Southern California.
Ships from participating nations are flooding into Pearl Harbor this week.
“RIMPAC brings international participants together to foster and sustain cooperative relationships,” the Navy said. “Training during RIMPAC builds credible, ready maritime forces that help to preserve peace and prevent conflict.”
Exercise locations include Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay and the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai.
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“Hawaii’s operating areas and ranges offer realistic, relevant training opportunities like nowhere else in the world and environmental stewardship and protection of marine mammals are always top priorities during RIMPAC,” the Navy said in a news release.
During the in-port portion of the exercise, crews receive training on sighting marine mammals and required protective measures, the Navy said.
However, environmental law organization Earthjustice said the mammoth exercise “will have devastating impacts on marine life.”
The use of sonar and explosives in military training exercises at sea have been proved to pose great risks to marine mammals, Earthjustice said.
“The scientific evidence is overwhelming. Past RIMPAC exercises may have contributed to mass-strandings of whales,” the organization said. “The Navy itself estimates that training off the coasts of Hawaii and Southern California could result in the deaths of as many as 155 marine mammals and the permanent injury of more than 2,000 more over a five-year period.”
The Navy should cease these activities in sensitive marine mammal habitat, Earthjustice said.
The Navy also addressed the phenomenon of some garage door remote controls not working during RIMPAC, which has been noted before.
“This can occur if the device is a type (FCC-regulated but unlicensed Part 15) that operates on frequencies reserved for federal government systems,” the Navy said. Those devices can be affected by electromagnetic activity generated by Navy ships, civilian boaters or other sources.
The Navy said it is required to test commercial surface-search radars in port before getting underway and as part of scheduled maintenance. Surface-search radars are available commercially, used by civilian boaters and not a safety issue.
Engineers say garage door openers have a radio frequency that decodes information from a transmitter, and a high level of radio frequency, or RF, can jam a receiver. Military radars or communications can cause interference by drowning out weaker signals.
If a remote control isn’t working, the Navy said to remove it from the vehicle’s sun visor and point it directly at the door. If the opener still doesn’t work, the garage door might have to be opened and closed manually, or other options considered, for a short time.
20 responses to “Expect noise, risk to marine life, garage door glitches and $52.5M from RIMPAC”
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Nice left spin on the headline.
You could have said “Expect more protection of the liberty and freedom that we enjoy”. But that’s not what you clowns see.
Good point, but expect more negatives from all the malcontents!
Let’s blast all the Kaiju back to the stone age!
Navy’s Rim of the Pacific exercises is on.
We need the military spending as we don’t have a sustainable economy out here. And I feel safer, as a female, with the military presence.
Re: ” … feel safer, as a female’ .. I fully acknowledge your feelings and there are important differences but/& gender parity works best when the differentiation is left out as a qualifier.
What she really means is that with all the Sailors having time off & money to burn, there actually may be a chance one will be drunk enough for allie to take home….and inevitably, he’ll wake up the next morning and let out a big “yikes!”….
Bwahahahaha! Nice one.
IRT “…as many as 155 marine mammals and the permanent injury of more than 2,000 more over a five-year period.” And that is just the mammals. Everyone will agree that to be good a war it is important to practice. Practicing together in times of peace is also a good idea. But/and is it really necessary to harm sea life in the process. I suspect no more necessary than it was to use the whole island of Koolawe as a target. We need to take care of the ocean. It needs all of the help it can get.
Thank you Rim Pac 2016, we appreciate you being here. Have a safe one
How about No Noise,No risk to marine life, NO interference and take that $52 mil. to Cabo San Lucas.
Just because you’re not benefiting from any of that estimate $52 million, try telling that to the faces of all the LOCAL vendors of fuel, food, fruit & vegetable suppliers, ship services, restaurants, stores, bars, strip clubs, hotels, taxi’s, hookers and a plethora of others who will make money from all the ships, subs, aircraft and personnel who are here for RIMPAC.
Hookers? Okay,your makes sense.
Why is Old Glory 10 times smaller then Mao’s malo?
Because it’s on a Chinese ship. When visiting foreign ports, it’s customary to fly the host nation’s flag as a “courtesy” from the one of the ships masts.
For organizations that are world class, it is not cost at the sacrifice of schedule or quality. The motto is pick three…we want products at cost, on schedule, with requisite quality. These are not mutually exclusive. The same standard should be for the leaders of our NAVY. RIM PAC…have a successful Multi National War exercise, but have a plan to be good sailors/neighbors to the community, and have a solid plan to minimize damage to our marine life. So pick three, and refrain from putting out advisories/disclaimers up front as we have been forewarned and then proceed with abandon. Lastly, please don’t excuse constructive criticism of unexceptional management by flag waiving and putting down the messenger as being unpatriotic. We all would be more proud if RIMPAC picks three.
These exercises go on every couple of years and the average person is not even affected by them and would take no notice without the news media. In fact, there are very few reports of any negative behavior by the participants or inconveniences suffered by the public, at large. C’mon folks, just take the money and appreciate it.
I for one am happy that we have RIMPAC. This ensures that we as a state are protected as well as safe. People always knock the military but what would happen if they were not here in Hawaii? Moreover, RIMPAC brings a lot of $$ into the economy, money that goes towards things that we enjoy.
I don’t care if my garage door open and closes, or flutters, I’m happy with the small inconvenience of knowing that we are secure and protected!
The exercise is useful but perhaps the method could be improved. Sonar (and radar) arrays are harmful to objects being radiated; in this case, compound that by many ships/submarines in a wide area over 2 weeks. (Not even considering nuclear by-products.) One can imagine the endgame with continued long term radiation of the oceans by so many countries.
when you leave your home unattended, close the garage door then turn off the remote function. you don’t want the door to open when no one is home.