Airmen Conclude This Year’s Christmas Airdrops

C-130 crews from Yokota AB, Japan, operating from Andersen AFB, Guam, delivered more than 39,000 pounds of humanitarian supplies—and holiday cheer—to Pacific islanders during this year’s Operation Christmas Drop, the Pentagon’s longest running humanitarian effort. Between Dec. 11 and Dec. 18, the Yokota airmen dropped bundles of goods, including toys, clothing, fishing equipment, sporting goods, food items, and tools, to the inhabitants of 54 islands, among them: Chuuk, Palau, Yap, the Marshall Islands, and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, according to Andersen’s Dec. 19 release. OCD began in December 1952 and has been an annual undertaking ever since, bringing together airmen and civilian volunteers for the benefit of the islanders. “When we all signed up to join the military, it was about service, not only service to our country, but service to the world,” said Col. David Gould, Yokota’s 374th Operations Group commander. “There are few operations on this planet that demonstrates as much commitment to service as Operation Christmas Drop,” he added. (Andersen report by SrA. Robert Hicks)