Not clickbait: Booker part of world’s largest maritime warfare exercise

Korey Booker, a Salem native who joined the U.S. Navy 15 years ago, is helping bring together military forces from 31 nations for the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise.

Booker, a chief petty officer and 2010 graduate of Woodstown High School, is among more than 25,000 military personnel participating in the biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise, known as RIMPAC, in and around the Hawaiian Islands.

He serves with Unmanned Surface Vessel Squadron Three and is temporarily assigned to the USS Paul Hamilton, a Navy destroyer based in San Diego. Booker serves as a quartermaster.

“RIMPAC allows me to network and connect with other countries to exchange information and see how they operate,” Booker said. “It’s cool because it allows us to build camaraderie with foreign militaries and better understand what they do.”

RIMPAC 2026 brings together approximately 40 surface ships, five submarines, more than 140 aircraft and 14 national land forces. The exercise includes training in disaster relief, maritime security, missile and anti-submarine warfare, air defense, counter-piracy and mine-clearing operations.

Booker said his Navy service also gives him an opportunity to mentor younger sailors.

“I get to teach junior sailors about their job and how to protect the nation,” he said. “That is the future of our military, so it is not a role I take lightly.”