Operation Christmas Drop Takes Flight

Annual mission brings aircrews together for long-running humanitarian effort.

Matt Ryan

Wednesday, December 10, 2025 at 04:52 PM ET

Verified

Edited By: Ryan Ewing

[Credit: Air Force Senior Airman Alexzandra Gracey]

Key Takeaways:

Operation Christmas Drop, in its 74th year, is the world's longest-running humanitarian airlift, with aircrews from the U.S., Canada, Japan, and South Korea participating.
From Guam, participants prepare and deliver 82,000 pounds of essential supplies, including food, water, medical aid, and clothing, to 59 remote islands, benefiting an estimated 56,000 people.
The mission serves a dual purpose: providing vital humanitarian aid, hope, and connection to isolated communities, while also offering invaluable low-level flight, precision-airdrop, and logistical coordination training for aircrews in the Indo-Pacific region.

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Aircrews from the United States, Canada, Japan and South Korea gathered on Guam this week for the 74th year of Operation Christmas Drop from Andersen Air Force Base. There, service members and volunteers prepared 270 supply bundles decorated with holiday imagery before loading the first package into a C-130J Super Hercules assigned to the 36th Airlift Squadron.

According to the 374th Airlift Wing, the annual Operation Christmas Drop mission, which began in 1952 when a B-29 crew dropped supplies to islanders near Guam, now supports an estimated 56,000 people across 59 islands.

Seven aircraft from the participating nations will fly sorties through Friday, delivering a combined 82,000 pounds of food, water, medical supplies, fishing gear, clothing and toys to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The opening “push ceremony” on Monday included leaders from partner nations and local communities.

#RCAF personnel from 8 Wing/CFB Trenton have arrived in Guam to join the world’s longest-running humanitarian airlift, Operation Christmas Drop, from Dec 3–16. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/qniuPDIJkJ
— Canadian Joint Operations Command (@CJOC_COIC) December 3, 2025

“Operation Christmas Drop delivers more than just supplies,” Aren Palik, vice president of the Federated States of Micronesia, said. “It delivers hope, connection and the reassurance that even across a vast ocean, we remain part of one family.”

Aircrews conduct low-level flight, precision-airdrop and logistical coordination training throughout the operation, practices the Air Force said are important to readiness in the Indo-Pacific region.

“While this is an amazing humanitarian mission, it’s also an invaluable training event for participating aircrews,” Col. Richard McElhaney, commander of the 374th Airlift Wing, said. “This training, and the work we do here, matters and translates to our readiness.”

As bundles are dropped across remote islands, airmen often see residents waving as aircraft pass overhead.

“Beyond the food, tools, fishing gear, school supplies and gifts, you deliver something far more valuable: the spirit of compassion that defines this Christmas season,” Palik said.