The view out the back of a C-130 Hercules during Operation Christmas Drop, Dec. 12, 2011. The island of Fais is located within the Yap state of the Micronesian Islands and is one of the more than 50 islands that will receive care packages this holiday season as part of OCD. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Carlin Leslie)
Staff Sgt. Blake Landry, 374th Airlift Wing loadmaster, prepares for the first push of the Operation Christmas Drop Season, Dec. 12, 2011. OCD will deliver care packages to more than 50 islands within Micronesian States during the next two weeks. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Carlin Leslie)
Two pallets are strapped in to the C-130 and will be air dropped over Fais and Ngulu , two islands in the Micronesian Islands, Dec. 12, 2011. OCD will deliver care packages to more than 50 islands within Micronesian States during the next two weeks. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Carlin Leslie)
crew members of the 374th Airlift Wing, Yokota Air Base, Japan, push a pallet out of a C-130 Hercules over the island of Fais, Dec. 12, 2011. Operation Christmas Drop is an annual event when they airlift pallets for 57 islands of Micronesia. The pallets contain school supplies, toys, medical supplies and common day items. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Carlin Leslie)
An aircrew member of the 374th Airlift Wing, Yokota, Air Base Japan, looks out the cargo hold door to spot the pallet that was just pushed over Ngulu Island, Dec. 12, 2011. The pallet was a box full of goodies for the islanders containing school supplies, toys, medical supplies and common day items. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Carlin Leslie)
Staff Sgt. Blake Landry, 374th Airlift Wing loadmaster, gazes out of the door of a C-130 aircraft checking to make sure the pallet that was just pushed reached the island safely, Dec. 12, 2011. OCD will deliver care packages to more than 50 islands within Micronesian States during the next two weeks. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Carlin Leslie)
C-130 completes a fly-by ensuring safe arrival of the Operation Christmas Drop care package to Ngulu Island of the Micronesian Islands, Dec. 12, 2011. The pallet was a box full of goodies for the islanders containing school supplies, toys, medical supplies and common day items. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Carlin Leslie)
The C-130 is silhouetted on the ocean while it completes a fly-by ensuring safe arrival of the Operation Christmas Drop care package to Ngulu Island of the Micronesian Islands, Dec. 12, 2011. The pallet was a box full of goodies for the islanders containing school supplies, toys, medical supplies and common day items. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Carlin Leslie)
The Island of Ngulu is part of the Yap state of the Micronesian Islands and received goods from Operation Christmas Drop, Dec. 12, 2011. OCD will deliver care packages to more than 50 islands within Micronesian States during the next two weeks. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Carlin Leslie)
by Senior Airman Carlin Leslie
36th Wing Public Affairs
12/13/2011 - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- Operation Christmas Drop 2011 got underway here, Dec. 12, with the help of 374th Airlift Wing from Yokota Air Base, Japan. OCD is a private organization that collects goods to distribute to more than 50 Micronesian Islands every year at this time. The flights serve as a training mission for the United States Air Force and the tradition dates back to the first Operation Christmas Drop. In 1952 aircrew of a WB-29 aircraft assigned to the 54th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, formerly assigned to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, were flying a mission south of Guam over the Micronesian island of Kapingamarangi. The aircrew saw some islanders waving to them,and the crew quickly gathered items they had on the plane, placed them in a container with a parachute attached and dropped the cargo as they circled back. Thus starting the longest running humanitarian mission in the Air Force.
