Airmen ensure tradition of Operation Christmas Drop continues
Leaders move a box of donated goods into the back of a C-130 Hercules during the 65th Operation Christmas Drop push ceremony at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Dec. 6, 2016. Left to right: Rear Admiral Bette Bolivar, commander, Joint Region Marianas, Brig. Gen. Douglas Cox, 367th Wing commander, Andersen AFB, Guam, Col. Kenneth Moss, 374th Airlift Wing commander, Yokota Air Base, Japan, Col. Scott Zippwald, 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing commander, Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam, Hawaii and Manny Hechanova, Associate Director of Telecommunications and Distance Education Operation at the University of Guam. Operation Christmas Drop is the longest running humanitarian airlift operation in the history of the Department of Defense, impacting the lives of more than 20,000 islanders. The people of the Micronesian islands can expect to see service members aboard a C-130 Hercules drop a box, attached to a parachute, filled with rice, fish hooks, educational materials, clothing and toys. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Theanne Herrmann)