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Bringing Joy to the Pacific

Dec. 12, 2024 |DOD News

What began in 1952 with a single B-29 Superfortress crew dropping supplies to waving islanders on Kapingamarangi has evolved into a massive operation serving more than 50 remote islands across Micronesia, bringing essential supplies, toys and holiday cheer to about 20,000 people.

A pilot wearing a Christmas hat sitting on a cockpit of an aircraft touches a tablet while airborne.
A pilot wearing a Christmas hat sitting on a cockpit of an aircraft touches a tablet while airborne.
Delivery Pilot
Air Force Capt. Miranda Bapty checks her flight path from the cockpit of a C-130J Super Hercules during Operation Christmas Drop 2024 off the coast of Guam, Dec. 13, 2024.
Download: Full Size (3.62 MB)
Credit: Air Force Capt. Emma Quirk
VIRIN: 241213-F-MA528-1116
Two boxes of supplies drop over the sea next to land.
Two boxes of supplies drop over the sea next to land.
Humanitarian Assistance
Two airdrop bundles containing humanitarian goods descend from the ramp of an Air Force C-130J Super Hercules over Fassari, Federated States of Micronesia, Dec. 10, 2024, in support of Operation Christmas Drop.
Download: Full Size (1.86 MB)
Credit: Air Force Senior Airman Natalie Doan
VIRIN: 241210-F-GS842-1163
The annual mission, now using C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, doubles as crucial training in humanitarian airdrops for military crews while building goodwill throughout a region spanning roughly the width of the continental United States.

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Download: Full Size ({{filesize}})
Credit: {{photographer}}
VIRIN: {{virin}}
Five large military aircraft fly together on a sunny day.
Two airman sit on the carbo bay of an aircraft and look out the back at the sea and an island.
An airman with a helmet on sits inside the cargo bay of an aircraft.
Three large boxes of supplies parachute out the back of a low flying aircraft over water and near land.
Two airmen work on a supply crate at the back of an open aircraft over water.
An airman watches out of the open back of an aircraft as supplies drop on parachutes over sea next to land.
Two airmen wave from the back of an open aircraft loaded with supply boxes to an island below.
Two Australian airmen check a large package in an open aircraft while airborne.
Two boxes of supplies drop from the back of an open aircraft to the sea.
A small group of people decorate at the end of a long row of boxes.
An airman in civilian clothes and wearing a Santa cap focuses while packing an item in a box.
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Operation Christmas Drop Involves: 

  • Gathering supplies from multiple installations and organizations around the world.
  • Bundling the supplies into packages.
  • Dropping the packages from aircraft.
  • Aiding remote islands across the Pacific Ocean.
  • Training Air Force personnel in humanitarian airdrops.
humanitarian Operation Christmas Drop Air Force humanitarian aid

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