As the Trump administration and the U.S. Congress continue to ramp up rhetoric of “China is our enemy,” 2026 is the 30th year that the United States has organized the largest naval war practice in the world, called Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC).
For 37 days from June 24 through July 31, the RIMPAC war “games” will be held in the waters off the state of Hawaii.
This year 31 countries have sent naval, air and land military forces to Hawaii for RIMPAC.
Some 50% of the participating countries are members or “partners” of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Eight of the ten NATO countries are from Europe: Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and United Kingdom.
Canada is the only other NATO member from the Western Hemisphere, along with, of course, the host country, the United States.
Five of the six NATO “partners,” have Pacific Ocean coasts: Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Korea and Colombia.
The RIMPAC war drills are specifically directed toward the propagandized military threat of China, when China’s main “threat” is its economic challenge to the “West,” not military confrontation.
Israel Is Participating and Weaving Itself into the Fabric of the U.S. Military
Israel, the U.S. partner in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank, the destruction of southern Lebanon and the war on Iran, will also have a presence in RIMPAC as it continues to weave itself into the fabric of the U.S. military.
Although RIMPAC has not specified what the role of the Israeli military delegation is, one can surmise that they will act as liaison officers, planners, observers or staff officers participating in command-and-control and multinational planning activities and giving lessons-learned in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
40 Ships, 200 Aircraft, 25,000 Personnel and 5 Submarines
40 military ships, including 13 from the U.S., 200 aircraft, 25,000 military personnel and five submarines will practice their violent mission of war in this year’s RIMPAC, which will include live fire and bombings on the Pohakuloa range on the Big Island of Hawaii, sinking a large retired U.S. Navy ship off the island of Kauai and amphibious landings on the turtle-hatching beach of Bellows on the island of Oahu.
Harm to marine mammals created by the large numbers of ships continues to be a major concern. The number of “takes,” or deaths, of marine mammals allowed by the U.S. government permits is horrendous.
U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor Involved in the U.S.-Israeli War on Iran
On February 28, 2026, the Trump administration combined with Israel in attacking Iran. The massive bombings and missile attacks from the U.S. and Israel assassinated Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and many other senior Iranian officials on the first day of the war on Iran.
Also killed on February 28, 2026, the first day of the U.S./Israeli attack on Iran, were 156 civilians, including 120 school children, when a U.S. missile destroyed the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab in southern Iran.
One of the five submarines in 2026 RIMPAC is the U.S. Navy’s USS Charlotte.
On March 4, 2026, five days after the U.S.-Israel war on Iran began, the USS Charlotte torpedoed and sunk the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in international waters, 19 nautical miles off the southern tip of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean.
The USS Charlotte torpedoing of the Dena killed 104 Iranian sailors. At the time of the attack, Dena had a crew of 136 personnel and only 32 survived. According to reports, the remains of 20 of the deceased were not recovered.
It is the only instance since World War II in which a United States Navy submarine sank a surface vessel using torpedoes.
The Iranian ship was 2,300 miles from Iran having mid-February 2026, participated the multilateral naval exercise MILAN 2026, in February 2026. and in the International Fleet Review 2026 held at the Indian port of Visakhaptnam. [NOTE: I don’t follow this sentence; I believe there are some words missing.]
The U.S. sent U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Steve Koehler, the highest ranking naval officer in the Pacific Command, to the International Fleet Review. Ironically, a U.S. Navy release revealed that a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft took part and conducted anti-submarine warfare drills with other participating forces in MILAN 2026.
The United States Navy was to have sent the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG-91), but participation was canceled at the last minute for “undisclosed operational reasons.”
According to an article in The Maritime Executive written before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran started, the Indian military was probably not concerned about the lack of U.S. participation, as it “would have been embarrassing for the Indian hosts to have had Pinckney moored alongside IRINS Dena, should war have broken out with Iran during the period of the fleet review.”
After the USS Charlotte sunk the Dena, India allowed Iranian warship IRIS Lavan to dock at the port of Kochi on March 4, 2026, with 183-member crew housed at naval facilities. Sri Lanka allowed another Iranian warship, IRIS Bushehr, to dock at Trincomalee Harbor and housed its 208-member crew at the naval camp on March 5, 2026.
India’s former chief of naval staff, Admiral Arun Prakash, commented: “It’s a bit of treachery of the US to attend a peaceful function side-by-side with Iranian navy, where there’s a lot of camaraderie, and then the moment the Iranian ship pops out of harbour, it’s sunk…They could have delayed this action to spare India this embarrassment.”
That comment, and India allowing one Iranian ship to seek safe harbor in an Indian port after the USS Charlotte torpedoed the IRIS Dena, is probably the reason why the massive U.S. military unified command “Indo-Pacific Command,” and host of RIMPAC, recently dropped “Indo” from its name and is now called the “Pacific Command,” even though its area of responsibility still includes the Indian subcontinent.
The U.S. Central Command said that the U.S. has now sunk/destroyed 60 Iranian naval vessels.
Another Tragedy Involving Another U.S. Submarine Homeported at Pearl Harbor
However, those of us who live in Hawaii and those from Japan remember another tragic incident with a U.S. submarine homeported in Pearl Harbor.
On February 9, 2001, the U.S. Navy’s USS Greenville conducted an “emergency” surfacing with 16 VIP civilians on board as a part of the U.S. Navy’s Distinguished Visitor Embarkation (DVE) program.
The USS Greeneville came up under the Japanese student training vessel Ehime Maru, nine nautical miles off the island of Oahu, breaking the hull of the ship which quickly sunk.
Some 35 people were aboard the Ehime Maru, of which 26 were rescued, one with serious injuries. Nine were killed, four high school students, two teachers, and three crew members, with U.S. Navy and Japanese divers retrieving eight of the nine bodies from the sunken vessel which was raised from the ocean floor during October 2001.
Thankfully, the USS Greeneville is not participating in RIMPAC 2026 and is now homeported in San Diego.
Citizens Protest RIMPAC
Each edition of RIMPAC is protested by citizens in Hawaii. On June 24 a spirited ceremony and procession preceded the protest at the gates of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.
Numerous persons will be at the gates of Pearl Harbor over the next weeks to continue the challenge to the war practice called RIMPAC.
Yet More War Gaming
While RIMPAC is one of the largest war games, each year the U.S. Pacific Command sponsors over 1,500 war practice maneuvers and other engagement activities with military forces from other countries in Asia and the Pacific.
As RIMPAC began in Hawaii, the war practice Valiant Shield ended in the front yard of China near Guam, Northern Marianas and Okinawa. Valiant Shield is held every two years, just as is RIMPAC.
The U.S., Japan, Australia, Canada and New Zealand participated in Valiant Shield, only the second time Japan has sent military forces since Valiant Shield began in 2006.
The Navy described Valiant Shield as an anti-submarine warfare exercise, high altitude balloon launch, MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone surveillance flight, bilateral medical operations, bi-lateral resupply and cross-decking, and a live fire of the medium-range intercept capability.
The United States sent the aircraft carrier, Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), the guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls (CG 62), the guided-missile destroyers USS Shoup (DDG 86) and USS Benfold (DDG 65), and Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Minnesota (SSN 783) to Valiant Shield.
The Japanese ships included the helicopter destroyer Kaga, the guided-missile destroyer Fuyuzuki and the attack submarine JS Jingei.
Japanese air and ground Self-Defense Forces also participated in Valiant Shield 2026, with 4,100 Japanese ground forces, 150 vehicles and 60 aircraft involved in the war maneuvers.
The Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Charlottetown (FFH339) and a P-8A Poseidon MPA from the Royal New Zealand Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force also participated in Valiant Shield 2026
The story of the 2026 Valiant Shield sinking of the current USS Juneau by a Japanese torpedo is a strange chapter in military history. It’s the Second Time a Japanese Submarine Sunk Ships Named the USS Juneau !!!!
A Navy press release about Valiant Shield enthusiastically read that “The pinnacle event was the sinking exercise (SINKEX) of the decommissioned Austin-class amphibious transport dock USS Juneau (LPD 10) in the Philippine Sea, June 27. The SINKEX brought together air, surface, and subsurface assets in coordinated strikes, allowing crews to sharpen critical skills in weapons employment and target engagement under realistic conditions that no simulator can fully replicate.”
The amphibious transport dock USS Juneau (LPD 10) entered service in 1969 and saw action in the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm before being decommissioned in 2008 and being made ready to be sunk as a part of military war practice, 18 years later in 2026.
June 2026 U.S. Navy images show that aircraft stopped bombs on the USS Juneau. But, according to the U.S. Navy, the final hit that sank the USS Juneau was a torpedo strike from a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine.
The Captain of the Japanese submarine JS Jingei whose torpedo finally sunk the USS Juneau in Valiant Shield 2026 perhaps did not know the history of the ships that have carried the name USS Juneau, or he might have passed up the opportunity to give the final blow to this USS Juneau in June 2026.
Past Tragedy
In 1942, during World War II, the namesake of the 2026 Valiant Shield USS Juneau, was sunk near the Solomon Islands when torpedoes from a Japanese submarine split the light-cruiser in half, sinking it almost immediately. More than 600 sailors died that day, including perhaps the most well-known case of brothers killed during the war.
The Sullivan brothers, five brothers from Waterloo, Iowa—Albert, Francis, George, Joseph, and Madison Sullivan—all served as shipmates on the USS Juneau. Normal protocol during wartime required siblings be assigned to different units to prevent one family from having to endure such hardship. But the Sullivans insisted that they serve together and requested special permission to do so from the Secretary of the Navy.
Tragically, all five brothers were killed in action when their ship, the USS Juneau, was sunk on November 13, 1942 by Japanese submarine torpedoes.
How many more people will die if the war gaming continues and serves as preparation for a physical hot war with China remains uncertain, but with today’s weaponry would certainly be extremely high.
CovertAction Magazine is made possible by subscriptions, orders and donations from readers like you.
Blow the Whistle on U.S. Imperialism
Click the whistle and donate
When you donate to CovertAction Magazine, you are supporting investigative journalism. Your contributions go directly to supporting the development, production, editing, and dissemination of the Magazine.
CovertAction Magazine does not receive corporate or government sponsorship. Yet, we hold a steadfast commitment to providing compensation for writers, editorial and technical support. Your support helps facilitate this compensation as well as increase the caliber of this work.
Please make a donation by clicking on the donate logo above and enter the amount and your credit or debit card information.
CovertAction Institute, Inc. (CAI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and your gift is tax-deductible for federal income purposes. CAI’s tax-exempt ID number is 87-2461683.
We sincerely thank you for your support.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the author(s). CovertAction Institute, Inc. (CAI), including its Board of Directors (BD), Editorial Board (EB), Advisory Board (AB), staff, volunteers and its projects (including CovertAction Magazine) are not responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. This article also does not necessarily represent the views the BD, the EB, the AB, staff, volunteers, or any members of its projects.
Differing viewpoints: CAM publishes articles with differing viewpoints in an effort to nurture vibrant debate and thoughtful critical analysis. Feel free to comment on the articles in the comment section and/or send your letters to the Editors, which we will publish in the Letters column.
Copyrighted Material: This web site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. As a not-for-profit charitable organization incorporated in the State of New York, we are making such material available in an effort to advance the understanding of humanity’s problems and hopefully to help find solutions for those problems. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. You can read more about ‘fair use’ and US Copyright Law at the Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School.
Republishing: CovertAction Magazine (CAM) grants permission to cross-post CAM articles on not-for-profit community internet sites as long as the source is acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original CovertAction Magazine article. Also, kindly let us know at info@CovertActionMagazine.com. For publication of CAM articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: info@CovertActionMagazine.com.
By using this site, you agree to these terms above.
About the Author
Ann Wright is a retired United States Army colonel and retired U.S. State Department official.
She was one of three State Department officials to publicly resign in direct protest of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.
Since that time Colonel Wright has been a dedicated peace activist.
Ann can be reached at annw1946@gmail.com.
