ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam –
Service members and volunteers from different corners of the Pacific theater gathered in Hangar 5 to pack boxes with supplies, including canned goods, clothing, school items, toys and more Dec. 7.
As part of Operation Christmas Drop 2024, the assembled goods are scheduled to be airlifted to more than 50 islands as part of the Department of Defense’s longest-running annual humanitarian airlift mission. Last year’s iteration delivered 210 bundles weighing a total of 84,000 pounds of Christmas cheer to 42,000 people across 1.8 million square miles.
For Master Sgt. Toni Odom, 36th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron senior enlisted leader, the event is about one community coming together to bring joy to another.
“For the entire group, it’s about the community—Yokota, the Andersen community and our foreign partners—coming together to build these bundles,” she said. “Everyone plays a part, from donating supplies to decorating the packages to make them special for the recipients and get them ready for delivery. It makes me teary-eyed thinking about what a wonderful opportunity this is for the community to come together.”
Odom added that the Bundle Build event is the quintessential event that fuels the rest of OCD.
“Today’s the day, because once this is finished, military members are waiting in the wings to kick into action. Tonight, the riggers have to come in and put parachutes on the boxes. After that, the inspectors have to inspect them for when operational drops kick off at 6 a.m. It’s exciting, because we’re less than 24 hours away from OCD’s first operational drop.”
Among the volunteers was Senior Airman Logan Turner, a public health technician for the 36th medical group, who is in her second year with Operation Christmas Drop. For Turner, the experience is both rewarding and deeply personal.
“When I came to Guam…there was a lot of talk about helping outlying islands that don’t have the same access to stores food, clothes, or toys,” she said. “Growing up, my family didn’t have much time or money for me to get a lot for Christmas, but my mom always found a way. If my mom could go the extra mile to make my Christmas special, then I can go the extra mile, too, to make Christmas special for so many others.”
Capt. Jordan Paecht, the OCD 24 deputy mission commander, said that OCD 24 aims to be bigger and better than ever thanks in large part to teamwork from an impressive collection of allied nations.
“We did even better this year getting donations, so all these islands that don’t have the same access to some of the resources that we will bring helps us focus on making a greater impact,” he said. “It feels like the pinnacle of operations out here in the Indo-Pacific Theater. The christmas spirit and the integration - working and flying alongside other nations - can’t be beat. We have the chance to come here and have the U.S., Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Canada, and others all in one place. By working together in our mission planning cells and then seeing the impact of OCD’s great mission, we’re able to see the real, tangible impact we have on the people who live on these islands. It’s the greatest form of partner nation integration we can do.