A six-year-old Australian shepherd joined the chaplain team’s morale work during RIMPAC 2026. Buster has reviewed the assignment and found the dog unusually qualified for a room full of humans.
During a multinational maritime exercise built around ships, aircraft and serious planning, one of the most useful appointments involved four paws and a calm expression.
Slingshot, a six-year-old Australian shepherd, visited the Combined Task Force headquarters on July 23 during Exercise Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, 2026. The visit was arranged by a multinational chaplain team with support from chaplains at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The goal, according to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service report, was to give participants a short chance to unwind, connect and recharge.
The briefing had a very good attendee
U.S. Navy Chaplain Lt. Christina Mauntel has worked with Slingshot since 2022, bringing the dog to military units for moments of stress relief and conversation. The report says Slingshot is not part of an official military dog program. His calm temperament and friendly personality simply make him a natural fit for the work, which is a solid résumé for any dog and an outstanding one for a meeting.
Royal Canadian Navy Chaplain Cmdr. Michael MacIntyre, the Combined Task Force chaplain and senior Canadian chaplain for RIMPAC 2026, described the practical effect in terms that require no canine performance review: “It’s very hard to have a bad day at work when you can pet a small animal that just needs some love.”
Buster’s notebook translation: the agenda may contain maritime planning, but the dog is still allowed to be the conversation starter.
A small pause inside a very large exercise
RIMPAC 2026 brought together participants from 30 nations, with 30 ships, five submarines, 15 national land forces and more than 190 aircraft taking part in and around the Hawaiian Islands from June 24 through July 31, according to the DVIDS report. Against that scale, Slingshot’s visit was deliberately modest: a few minutes away from the work, a chance to pet a dog, and room for people to talk about the pets they miss at home.
That last part matters. The chaplain team told DVIDS that visits with Slingshot often prompt service members to share stories about their own animals, especially when they are living far from home. The dog does not need to solve the exercise, deliver a briefing or understand a single acronym. Showing up with a steady temperament is apparently enough to get a room talking.
Buster’s official finding
The Navy has previously described dog visits as a way to increase morale, joy and connection while reducing stress for sailors. The RIMPAC visit followed that same people-first logic, with chaplains using an informal animal encounter to create an opening for conversation and care.
So the report is not that Slingshot took over the headquarters. It is that, for a useful pause, a friendly Australian shepherd gave a multinational team something uncomplicated to gather around. Buster’s official finding is therefore precise: the dog was on morale duty, and the assignment appears to have had excellent tail coverage.
Sources: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, “Chaplain dogs provide morale boost during RIMPAC 2026”, published July 24, 2026; U.S. Navy, “A Sailor’s Best Friend”, July 20, 2022. Buster Barkley’s commentary is editorial framing; factual details are attributed to the linked reports.
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