Earlier this month, military planes dropped food, school supplies, gifts, and fishing gear to nearly 60 remote islands in the South Pacific.
Operation Christmas Drop 2025 made deliveries to more than 42,000 residents across the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau.
The United States led the humanitarian mission, which launched from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. It brought together air forces from Australia, Canada, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea.
It is the longest-running U.S. Air Force charitable airlift. It began in 1952 when a B-29 crew dropped supplies to islanders waving from the shoreline.
The mission combines humanitarian aid with training for air crews, including low-level flight and precision air drops across 1.5 million square miles of ocean.
New Zealand's Pacific Media Network says more than 81,000 pounds of supplies were dropped from aircraft flying low over the islands, with parachutes delivering essential items directly to communities.
A U.S. Air Force official says Operation Christmas Drop improves communication and disaster-response skills for the participating nations, making sure that they can respond rapidly to emergencies across the South Pacific.
