A 2000 Rockwood High School graduate and Rockwood, Tennessee, native is serving in the U.S. Navy as part of the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC).

Petty Officer 1st Class Ronald Shillings is an electronics technician aboard USS Lake Champlain, currently operating out of San Diego, California.

A Navy electronics technician is responsible for maintaining communication within the ship as well as between ships.

Shillings applies the lessons he learned from Rockwood to his work in the Navy. “I learned my work ethic from growing up in Rockwood,” said Shillings. “I grew up in a construction family and learned that the job never gets done until you actually finish it.”

As the world’s largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain cooperative relationships critical to ensuring safety at sea and security on the world’s oceans. RIMPAC 2018 is the 26th exercise in the series that began in 1971.

The theme of RIMPAC 2018 is “Capable, Adaptive, Partners,” according to Navy officials. 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.

“I hope to achieve new qualifications during RIMPAC,” said Shillings.

This is the first time Israel, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are participating in RIMPAC. Additional firsts include New Zealand serving as sea combat commander and Chile serving as combined force maritime component commander. This is the first time a non-founding RIMPAC nation (Chile) will hold a component commander leadership position.

“I’m most proud of maintaining close to 100% of liability of communications on the ship,” said Shillings. “I’m also proud to be named Sailor of the Year for 2018.”

Twenty-six nations, 46 surface ships, five submarines and more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel will participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercise. This year’s exercise includes forces from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.

As a member of the U.S. Navy, Shillings and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.

“I’ve learned the kind of stress that I’m capable of withstanding and still keeping my sanity,” said Shillings. “The big lesson I’ve learned in the Navy is prioritization.”