The History of Operation Christmas Drop

Operation Christmas Drop is more than a cheeky Hollywood romantic comedy (that can still be watched on Netflix, by the way). It's the United States Department of Defense's longest-running mission and the longest-continuing humanitarian airlift operation in the world. Every year for more than seven decades, aircrews from the U.S. Air Force have dropped tons of humanitarian goods to some of the most remote locations in the world, across an expanse larger than the continental United States. 

The airmen aren't alone in their generosity. American civilians and military families play a large role in the success of the annual exercise. The spirit of the season combines with the airlift capabilities of the world's best Air Force to make Operation Christmas Drop a success, one that is certain to continue for decades to come. 

In 1952, airmen aboard a B-29 Superfortress based in Guam spotted islanders waving at them from the island of Kapingamarangi, some 3,500 miles southwest of Hawaii (that's longer than the distance between New York and Los Angeles). Since it was the Christmas season and Kapingamarangi was so remote, the aircrew dropped a bundle of supplies on the island via parachute. 

That first spontaneous airdrop began an official annual training and humanitarian operation, a tradition that continues to this day and has spread to more than 50 islands throughout the Pacific Ocean, throughout the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau. Other countries take part in the operation, officially sanctioned as training for supply drops - but also because "'tis the season." 

In the months before Operation Christmas Drop takes off, volunteers create donation boxes and begin to raise money to purchase other supplies. Volunteers will pick up the boxes, which are usually filled with school supplies, clothing, rice, fishing equipment, and toys, and deliver them to the bases in Japan and Guam, where they are rigged and loaded aboard C-130J transport aircraft. Each 400-pound box is then airdropped into the waters just off the islands (to avoid landing on people). 

For the aircrews, the drops are great training for real-world contingencies. Some 20,000 people across thousands of miles depend on the resupply, and the low-altitude drops are conducted at a very low cost, given the number of volunteers involved. The islanders are better prepared to weather any kind of potential disaster, while the aircrews are prepared to respond in kind to those disasters. And for the people of the islands, it creates an unforgettable experience. 

One islander on Agrigan saw one of the earliest cargo drops, remembering that some children believed toys were being dropped from the sky. In those days, life on the island was simple; there was no electricity or running water, and the locals lived by hunting and gathering. The supplies raining from the heavens were desperately needed, and the small parachutes were a welcome sight. 

The operation has been repeated every year since 1952, making Operation Christmas Drop the world's longest-running humanitarian operation. It's also a favorite for the aircrews who make the supply runs - after all, who wouldn't want to be a real-world Santa Claus?