While Santa Claus prepares his Christmas Eve deliveries, the Defense Logistics Agency has already delivered holiday cheer in the form of meals to service members stationed around the world.
"There's no question our team understands the importance of holiday meals and the tremendous impact they have on warfighter morale," said DLA Troop Support Subsistence Director Navy Capt. Tim Griffin. "Our team takes tremendous pride in providing holiday meals to warfighters around the globe each year; it's one of our most important missions. The planning phase begins in the spring, and we receive orders soon after."
A feat like this does not come without its challenges.
Griffin noted the USS Gerald Ford Carrier Strike Group was initially planned to spend Christmas in a different global location, but when they were diverted to U.S. Southern Command to support Operation Southern Spear, DLA Troop Support Subsistence had to quickly pivot to ensure meals were delivered on time.
"Our team sprung into action and worked closely with our mission partners in U.S. 5th Fleet, U.S. 6th Fleet, Naval Supply Systems Command, Military Sealift Command, Commander Task Force 53, Commander Task Force 63, DLA Troop Support Europe and Africa, and one of our subsistence prime vendors in Europe to deliver meals to the Ford CSG before they departed their previous [area of responsibility] in early November," Griffin said.
An additional challenge that impeded the mission of the Christmas meals was avian bird flu import restrictions in Japan, which hindered the subsistence prime vendor from finding turkeys for service members in that country.
"Eventually, we located compliant turkeys in another AOR and worked with that vendor to obtain the proper [U.S. Department of Agriculture] certification to legally ship those turkeys into Japan," said Sean Gemmell, DLA's division chief for prime vendors outside the continental United States. "As expected, Troop Support overcame every challenge presented and successfully delivered Christmas meals to service members serving around the globe."
"Everyone in subsistence — including 33% who are veterans — knows mission failure is not an option when providing a taste of home to the warfighter," said Robin Whaley, DLA’s division chief for customer operations outside the continental United States. "Eggnog, candy, and desserts such as cakes, pies and ice cream are major morale boosters for our service members."
In addition to those sweet treats, this year, military members will feast on:
- 101,943 pounds of turkey (includes whole and roasted turkey),
- 85,439 pounds of beef,
- 40,615 pounds of ham,
- 24,495 pounds of shrimp,
- 4,339 cans of sweet potatoes,
- 6,426 cases of pies and cakes,
- 1,496 cases of eggnog,
- and other holiday treats.
"Sitting down to enjoy a good holiday meal, made from food provided by Troop Support, helps to build morale, combat loneliness and [aid] homesickness," Whaley said. "For every service member serving in isolated locations of foreign countries, knowing they can look forward to having a meal that reminds them of home is priceless."