J. B. Pennington High School class of 2014 graduate and Blountsville native Petty Officer 2nd Class Hunter Etheredge is serving in the U.S. Navy as part of the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC).

PEARL HARBOR — A 2014 J. B. Pennington High School graduate and Blountsville 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 2nd Class Hunter Etheredge is a gas turbine systems technician (mechanical) aboard USS Lake Champlain, currently operating out of San Diego, California.

A Navy gas turbine systems technician (mechanical) is responsible for repair and maintenance of the propulsion engines on the ship.

Etheredge applies the lessons he learned from Blountsville to his work in the Navy.

“I learned that hard work and the time that you put into something, it will pay off as long as you stick with it,” said Etheredge.

As the world’s largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC 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 2018 is the 26th exercise in the series that began in 1971.

The theme of RIMPAC 2018 is Capable, Adaptive, Partners. 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’m looking forward to meeting people from different countries and seeing how their militaries operate,” said Etheredge.

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 making second class petty officer,” said Etheredge.

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, Etheredge and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes providing the Navy the nation needs.

“It is cool to be in the Navy to learn and establish new relationships with others. I was really blind to things going on and have learned to establish better relationships with people,” said Etheredge. “It is cool to do something for my country that I never thought that I would do.”