Thirty-five royal Tongan marines are currently participating in the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise, Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC 2016), in Hawaii. On their first day of training last Thursday June 30, the Tongan marines conducted Urban operations with Australian, New Zealand and U.S troops at Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii. The Tongan Army (His Majesties Armed Forces) is one of 26 national from armies from around the world participating in the military exercise.

Hosted by the U.S Navy’s Pacific Fleet, RIMPAC is a month long multinational military exercise held every two years in Hawaii. It involves naval and amphibious training exercise in Hawaii and Southern California. According to the United States Navy there are 45 ships, 5 submarines, more than 200 aircraft and about 25,000 personnel from 26 nations participating in RIMPAC 2016. RIMPAC 2016 commenced last week June 30 and will finish next month August 4.

On Tuesday this week, the Admiral of the U.S Pacific Fleet, Scott Swift, stressed the importance of multi-national cooperation in the Pacific at a press conference in Pearl Harbour. He stated "This is what the international maritime community does in ensuring that the norms, standards, rules and laws that have provided the great stability and security, the foundation for prosperity, that we all enjoy for the last 70 years – They're joined by a shared interest in maritime cooperation in the Pacific. We are all ‘locals’ during Rimpac -- that's regardless of geographic size, military might or economic strength.