By Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist John Osborne, Navy Office of Community Outreach
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii – 2nd Lt. Philip Olivero, a native of Santa Clarita, California, is assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) embarked aboard USS Essex, a U.S. Navy warship participating in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise in and around the Hawaiian Islands.
Olivero graduated from West Ranch High School in 2015 and earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Southern California at Santa Barbara in 2020.
Olivero joined the Marine Corps five years ago.
“I joined the Marine Corps after being around it my whole life,” Olivero said. “My father served 22 years in the Corps, and I had a total respect for him, and I also wanted to be active and have an active lifestyle.”
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Marine Corps are similar to those found in Santa Clarita.
“Early on, it was instilled in me the ability to adapt to pressure,” Olivero said. “I didn’t have a lot of pressure on me, but I was exposed to it at a young age, and after joining the Corps, it prepared me more than those who weren’t.”
Today, Olivero serves as a ship’s team embarkation officer.
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.
Olivero plays an important role in the exercise.
“My first impression of RIMPAC is that it is so wide-scale,” Olivero said. “It contributes not only to America, but also to many other nations and fosters relationships with our allies.”
Olivero serves aboard a Navy ship that operates far forward, around the world and around the clock, promoting the nation’s prosperity and security.
“Serving in the Marine Corps means I have pride in the uniform, pride in what I have accomplished and I’m making my father proud,” Olivero said.
Olivero is grateful to others for helping make a career in the Marine Corps possible.
“I would like to thank my dad, retired Master Sgt. Philip Olivero, for guiding me and letting me know what to expect when I joined, so I was not surprised,” added Olivero. “I also want to thank my mom, Shanika, for being there for our family when my dad was away and being the rock of our family.”
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.
More information about RIMPAC is available here: https://www.cpf.navy.mil/RIMPAC/
