71st Operation Christmas Drop begins, Korea joins U.S. and its allies

Defense

Published: 05 Dec. 2022, 17:50 Updated: 05 Dec. 2022, 19:31

71st Operation Christmas Drop begins, Korea joins U.S. and its allies

South Korean Air Force personnel secure boxes containing humanitarian supplies to be airdropped to remote islands in Micronesia from a C-130 transport plane on Sunday as a part of the weeklong U.S.-led Operation Christmas Drop. [AIR FORCE]

Korea is taking part in Operation Christmas Drop for the second consecutive year, with an Air Force C-130 flying to remote Pacific islands and dropping toys, clothing, medicine, fishing gear, daily necessities and other gifts by parachute.

It joins Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United States in the humanitarian mission, which has been held annually for 71 years.

Led by the U.S. Pacific Air Forces, participants will deliver donated goods to 20,000 people living on 56 islands throughout Micronesia and Palau. Operation Christmas Drop is the longest running Defense Department humanitarian assistance mission.

The South Korean Air Force sent a C-130 transport plane and some 30 service members, including pilots and mechanics, this year. The mission started Sunday at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and will run through Friday.

According to the South Korean Air Force on Monday, its transport aircraft and personnel belonging to the 15th Special Missions Wing headed to Guam on Nov. 29 to undertake training ahead of the six-day operation.

They will make three flights to about 10 Micronesian islands and will return to Korea on Dec. 12.

On Saturday, military personnel and local residents finished packing the supply boxes and loaded them onto the transport plane Sunday.

In the months leading up to the drop dates, the U.S. Air Force collects and sorts donated supplies.

Air crews connect to Pacific island villages by ham radio as they fly overhead and use low-cost, low-altitude airdrops, using repurposed personnel parachutes, to deliver the supplies packed in parcels to the islanders.

The drop point target is marked with a flag by the islanders.

South Korean Air Force personnel airdrop a parcel with humanitarian supplies to islanders in Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday as a part of the U.S.-led Operation Christmas Drop. [AIR FORCE]

Operation Christmas Drop began during the Christmas season in 1952 when crew on a B-29 Superfortress saw islanders waving at them from the island of Kapingamarangi in the Pacific Ocean. The aircrew dropped a bundle of supplied attached to a parachute to the islanders below.

Korea first joined the operation last year.

The South Korean Air Force said the operation will help improve its combined airlift and airdrop capabilities in coordination with other air forces and its long-range operational skills.

The mission helps train aircrews to resupply areas in the Indo-Pacific region.

"We are excited to team with our allies and partners throughout the region as we launch the 71st year of Operation Christmas Drop," said Col. Andrew Roddan, commander of the 374th Airlift Wing, in a statement last Tuesday.

He said the operation "represents a significant opportunity to integrate airlift teams as we work closely with international partners" and "helps to hone critical skills necessary for successful response to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief."

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]