By John Hudson, the Atlantic Wire

If Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Navy has a backup plan to save one-fifth of the world’s daily oil trade: send in the dolphins.

The threat of Iran closing the strait has reached a fever pitch, reports today’s New York Times, with U.S. officials warning Iran’s supreme leader that such moves would cross a ”red line” provoking a U.S. response. Iran could block the strait with any assortment of mines, armed speed boats or anti-ship cruise missiles but according to Michael Connell at the Center for Naval Analysis, “The immediate issue [for the U.S. military] is to get the mines.” To solve that problem, the Navy has a solution that isn’t heavily-advertised but has a time-tested success rate: mine-detecting dolphins.

“We’ve got dolphins,” said retired Adm. Tim Keating in a Wednesday interview with NPR. Keating commanded the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain during the run-up to the Iraq war. He sounded uncomfortable with elaborating on the Navy’s use of the lovable mammals but said in a situation like the standoff in Hormuz, Navy-trained dolphins would come in handy.

The invasion of Iraq was the last time the minesweeping capability of dolphins were widely-touted. “Dolphins – - which possess sonar so keen they can discern a quarter from a dime when blindfolded and spot a 3-inch metal sphere from 370 feet away — are invaluable minesweepers, reported The San Francisco Chronicle. In 2010, the Seattle Times reported that the Navy has 80 bottlenose dolphins in the San Diego Bay alone. They are taught to hunt for mines and drop acoustic transponders nearby. According to a report in 2003, the dolphins only detect the mines. Destroying them is left up to the Navy’s human divers. Still, the mammals are large enough to detonate, a live mine, a prospect that doesn’t delight animal rights groups.

When this was an issue in 2003, lobbying for the rights of dolphins was much more politically sensitive given that scores of U.S. men and women were being sent into battle as well. ”We’re not going to second-guess the Navy at a time of war,” said Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist with the Humane Society. “But we don’t support the use of marine mammals for military use.” According to the Chronicle, the two groups emphasized that “they were not placing the lives of animals above those of troops. But they questioned the ethics and wisdom of using wild animals to ensure safe passage through hostile waters. Petitions have also been sent to the Defense Department protesting their use:

“[Since] forces regard the Navy dolphins as enemy dolphins, there might be attempts on the dolphins lives. There is also the risk of indiscriminate killing of wild dolphin populations because any dolphin can potentially be an enemy dolphin. Also, the inherent danger that a dolphin may be injured or killed in mine-hunting operations remains a very real threat.”

Back in 2003,Tom LaPuzza, a spokesman for the San Diego-based Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, cast aside the skepticism about how the dolphins were treated:

“By nature, dolphins are naturally reliable and trustworthy animals who seem to enjoy pleasing their human handlers, LaPuzza said. When they are released into the ocean for missions, “they come back to the handler, the trainer” ashore or on a ship. “

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FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (USASOC News Service, Jan. 10, 2012) — Several members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) were recently presented the Distinguished Flying Cross in a small ceremony at Fort Campbell, highlighting the expertise and skill of the aviators within the Regiment.

Brig. Gen. Kevin Mangum, commander of the U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command and former 160th SOAR (A) commander, presented the valorous awards to eight Night Stalkers while their family members looked on.

“I am honored to be in the company of heroes,” said Mangum. “Each of these men showed courage in the face of danger to protect the Soldiers on the ground.”

“Fear is a reaction,” he continued, “but courage is a decision.”

The Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight, was presented to:

– Capt. Michael Hilquest
– Chief Warrant Officer 5 Stephen Combs
– Chief Warrant Officer 5 Dino Sorter
– Chief Warrant Officer 4 Gregory Cooper
– Chief Warrant Officer 4 Andy Fisher
– Chief Warrant Officer 4 William Rucker
– Chief Warrant Officer 4 John Williams
– Chief Warrant Officer 3 Sidney Sprabary

The Distinguished Flying Cross was also awarded to Chief Warrant Officer 4 Ryan Glathar, who could not be present.

Lt. Col Mike Hertzendorf, 1st Battalion, 160th SOAR (A) commander, described the extraordinary circumstances of the two separate missions in which the awards were earned.

Both occasions required the aircrews to execute very complex missions on short planning timelines in extremely challenging urbanized terrain. With complete disregard for their own safety, they each provided precise rotary wing support to the troops on the ground despite a determined and persistent enemy.

“The unique thing about the Distinguished Flying Cross is that it requires heroism,” Hertzendorf remarked proudly. “The voluntary risk of life to save another.”

Night Stalkers continue to serve around the world in support of overseas contingency operations. The 160th SOAR (A) recently celebrated its 30th anniversary and remains one of few Army units that have participated continuously in combat operations since September 2001.

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National Guard’s deeds at home, in war delivering JCS seat

Congress is about to elevate the position of Chief of the National Guard Bureau to full membership on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, joining the JSC chairman, vice chairman and four service branch chiefs as top military advisers to the president and his national security team.

It’s a controversial bump in power and prestige that proponents argue honors all who have served in the Army and Air National Guard during a decade of war, expansion of the homeland security mission, and raised expectations BY the public for swift, effective responses to natural disasters.

Every current member of the Joint Chiefs opposes the move, finding no military reason for the elevation, and several potential problems.  But National Guard representation on the JCS is hugely popular with state governors and adjutant generals, with 468,000 current Guard members and with many politicians.  With defense budgets tightening, it is an inexpensive way to show fresh support and appreciation for home state militias.

“I really think momentum for this started with Katrina,” said retired Maj. Gen. Gus L. Hargett Jr., president of the National Guard Association of the United States.  Within days of that massive hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast in August 2005, almost 60,000 Guardsmen were deployed.  Yet President Bush also ordered to New Orleans an active duty force of 5000, the 82nd Airborne, a move that grabbed the spotlight and chapped Guard leaders.

If the National Guard chief at the time, Lt. Gen. Steve Blum, “had been a member of the Joint Chiefs we would have never sent the 82nd Airborne to Louisiana,” Hargett said.  The Guard “would have done all of that itself and it would have been a more of unified effort” versus “two chains of command working to do the same thing.”

The House last May led Congress into making the NGB Chief a permanent member of the JCS, giving voice vote to this as part of a block of more obscure amendments to the fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill.

Senate approval came Nov. 28, also on a voice vote, in this case for a stand-alone amendment from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to the Senate version of the defense bill.  But Leahy’s amendment had 70 co-sponsors.

Indeed by early November, with the Joint Chiefs grumbling and Leahy’s initiative gaining steam, the Senate Armed Services Committee called a hearing of historic significance.  For the first time all six of four-star officers on the JCS appeared to testify and share their concerns.

The lone witness testifying in favor of putting the National Guard Bureau chief on the JCS was Gen. Craig R. McKinley, current NGC chief.

The Defense Department’s general counsel, Jeh Charles Johnson, also testified, advising that while the change would be legal it “could create legal confusion as to whether the Army and the Air Force chiefs of staff continue to represent their total force.”

Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, JCS chairman, noted that he, like his predecessor, extended a standing invitation to Guard chief McKinley to attend JCS meetings.  McKinley had enjoyed such access since becoming the first four-star officer to serve as NGB chief, the result of 2008 Guard reforms.

So, Dempsey said,  “there is no compelling military need to support this historic change.”  He added that active and reserve component forces now are indistinguishable on the battlefield, in part because service chiefs of Army and Air Force “are the single voice for their respective branches…The proposed change could undermine this unity of effort.”

Dempsey also noted that only two of six reserve components would be represented so directly on the Joint Chiefs, “creating what could at least be the perception of inequity” for Reserve forces.

A more important concern, Dempsey said, involves accountability.

“Each of the Joint Chiefs is subject to the civilian oversight of a single appointed and confirmed secretary.  The chief of the National Guard Bureau has no such oversight.  Elevation to the JCS would make him equal to the service chiefs without commensurate accountability,” Dempsey said.

But McKinley testified that, after three years on the job, he feels it is best for the nation that the National Guard chief be a full JCS member.  Only full membership “will ensure that the responsibilities and capabilities” of Guard units in their non-federalized role of supporting governors and states “are considered in a planned and deliberate manner.”

His current effectiveness in getting resources and training for non-federalized missions are “based upon ad hoc or personal relationships” and not firmly rooted in the law and national strategy.  The Guard’s domestic mission must get more consideration in contingency planning, allocation of scarce resources, and advice to the president, secretary of defense and the national and homeland security councils, he added

Threats to the homeland, he added, are more dangerous “than at any time in our history.”  With the Guard chief as a full JCS member, he said, mission “planning and resourcing would be vastly improved.”

Many senators agreed.

“The citizen soldier’s time has come,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), in a rapid-fire prosecutorial exchange with service chiefs and McKinley.

“General Dempsey, you’re a very fine man.  But if you got pissed off at [McKinley], could you tell him to get out of the room?”

“Yes, I could,” the chairman said.

“Good, “ Graham said, and to McKinley added, “I think you need to be in the room with some weight behind you, not just an invitation.”

Others opposed JCS expansion.  Sen. James Webb (D-Va.), a Marine in Vietnam and architect of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, said “anyone who’s saying that citizen soldiers are not at the table right now is being unnecessarily divisive [and] unfair to the stewardship and leadership of the Army and the Air Force…This legislation is unnecessary.”

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), committee chair, read reasons given by the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves in 2007 to oppose having the National Guard chief on the JCS.  Topping the list was the fact that service chiefs have greater duties.

Hargett noted that the Joint Chiefs had opposed accepting the Marine Corps commandant in 1978 and passage of the Goldwater Nichols law in 1986, forcing the services to operate jointly. Both moves are now praised.

“So they are not always right,” he said.  “And they are very protective of their turf.  That’s what I believe this is about, more than anything else.”

To comment, email milupdate@aol.com, write to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120-1111 or visit: www.militaryupdate.com.

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By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2011 – A small but star-studded ceremony today at Joint Base Andrews, Md., marked the return of U.S. Forces Iraq’s last troops. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey and Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter joined family members of about 30 returning service members to welcome those final few troops — including Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the last commander of U.S. Forces-Iraq — home.

Five days ago in Baghdad, Austin presided over the ceremony marking the end of the war in Iraq. Today, he said, “It is great to be back in the United States of America.”

Austin was part of the war’s first wave nearly nine years ago, in March 2003, when as the 3rd Infantry Division’s assistant commander for maneuver he ordered lead elements over the Kuwaiti border into Iraq. From September 2010 until today, he oversaw what he called “one of the most extraordinary feats in our military’s history:” the end of mission and return of U.S. troops and equipment from Iraq.

For several months, U.S. troops have worked tirelessly to reposition what were then 50,000 service members and 2 million pieces of equipment remaining in Iraq, Austin noted. “Sunday, the last of our troops crossed the border from Iraq to Kuwait, with their equipment,” he said. “They did it in an orderly fashion, [and] they did it ahead of schedule.”

The military-led mission in Iraq has come to a successful conclusion, Austin said, and the safe return of USFI’s unit colors, “capably carried and passed on from commander to commander since 2003,” represents the commitment that “helped make this great day possible.”

“It is my privilege to represent them,” the general added. “I could not be more proud of our men and women in uniform, who are unquestionably the preeminent military force in the world.”
Austin credited Iraq veterans and their coalition partners with removing a brutal dictator, persevering through the darkest days of the insurgency, and providing the Iraqi people with opportunities for freedom “they have not seen in their lifetime.”

The general noted the team of State Department diplomats remaining in country to build on the United States’ strategic relationship with Iraq. “Their professionalism and their spirit of teamwork were instrumental in making our interagency efforts so successful,” he added.

Austin thanked the families and friends of returning veterans for their love and support, and said the nation owes the families of the nearly 4,500 service members killed in Iraq “a debt of gratitude it can never repay. Please know that we share in your loss, and that you will always be a part of our family,” he said.

Austin thanked the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, civilians and coalition partners who served in Iraq for “a job extremely well done I am truly humbled by your service and your many, many sacrifices,” he added.

Austin saluted those wounded in the Iraq war, noting their fighting spirit “serves as a source of inspiration for us, and you will always have a place in our formation.” Austin offered wishes for “a very joyous holiday season” to all Iraq war veterans and their loved ones.

“Please know that your sacrifices were instrumental in liberating an oppressed people, in providing them an opportunity to enjoy a better way of life,” he said. “You have set the conditions for democracy to take root in a region that is critically important to the United States of America … again, thank you for a job extremely well done.”

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AIRBANKS – The day Pearl Harbor was bombed, Dec. 7, 1941, Brian Yamamoto’s father, Edward, was attending the University of Southern California on a baseball scholarship. Born and raised in Los Angeles, the college student was as surprised as the rest of America about the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii.

“He was playing tennis with a buddy when he heard the news,” said Brian, a Fairbanks dentist, “and he asked, ‘Where is Pearl Harbor?’”What 19-year-old Edward didn’t realize was that as a Nisei (second generation Japanese American) he would soon be rounded up with thousands of other first-, second- and third-generation Japanese Americans, herded onto buses and trains to assembly centers before being transported to hastily built barracks-style camps spread across desolate stretches of the Western states and two camps in Arkansas.

Although many Japanese internees were American-born and raised, they were imprisoned behind guarded, barbed-wire fences, without due process, and listed as enemy aliens. The mandatory internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans on the mainland would last until after the war with Japan ended in August 1945. But some, like Edward Yamamoto, managed to get out early — by volunteering or being drafted to serve in the armed forces of the very country that had locked them up.

In early November, Brian Yamamoto; his wife, Leslie; and son, Stuart, traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in three days of Congressional Gold Medal ceremonies honoring World War II veterans of Japanese ancestry. The medal is the highest civilian award in the United States and is awarded to an individual or unit that performs an outstanding deed or act of service to the security, prosperity and national interest of the country.

Of the 30,000 plus Nisei who volunteered or were drafted into the U.S Army during World War II, only 360 veterans, many in wheelchairs, attended the ceremony. The Yamamoto family made the trip to represent seven male relatives, including Brian’s father, Edward, all deceased, except for one uncle who was too infirm to travel. The men served in either the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team or the Military Intelligence Service. All three units consisted exclusively of Americans of Japanese ancestry.

“It was truly gratifying to see the veterans awarded the medal,” Brian said. “Their sacrifices, valor and commitment proved their loyalty to America. They were richly deserving of the honor and it was heartwarming to see their expressions of pride as they received and displayed their medals.” But there was also a feeling of regret among the more than 2,000 extended family members in attendance that it took six and a half decades for the veterans to be honored. “Even in the speeches, it was said ‘This is long overdue,’” Leslie said.

The saga of how Japanese-American citizens were treated during World War II is not widely known. Nor is the fact that many patriotic, military-age Nisei internees had to protest in order to fight for their country of birth — the United States. Brian’s father seldom spoke about what he or his family endured during their stay in Poston internment camp (population 17,840), located in the Arizona desert, or whether he volunteered for or was drafted into the Military Intelligence Service — although Brian’s brother recently told him that their father had volunteered for the Army.

From old photos Brian turned up recently during a family Thanksgiving visit Outside, Brian learned his father first held the rank of sergeant and was promoted to staff sergeant during his service in Japan after the surrender. Edward Yamamoto shipped out to Japan in December 1945, and was stationed at Camp Zama, outside Tokyo with the 4th Replacement Depot. There he served as an interpreter, translator and interviewer.

The 6,000 Nisei serving in the MIS were dubbed “America’s Secret Weapon in the War Against Japan” and were credited by military officials with saving a million lives. Following intensive training, MIS graduates were attached to the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Corps, served in every combat theater and participated in every major battle and invasion against the Japanese military. They also were loaned for duty to British, Australian, New Zealand, Chinese and Indian combat units.

Nisei linguists, with their knowledge of Japanese language and customs, translated a vast variety of enemy documents, including maps, diaries and letters. They broke codes and broadcast surrender appeals to flush out caves of enemy soldiers and civilians. Their usefulness as a cultural and language bridge extended after the war as well in occupied Japan. Nisei soldiers also proved themselves invaluable on the battlefield.

“Together the 100th and 442nd became the most highly decorated outfit in U.S. Army history,” said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, at the recent Congressional Medal of Honor Ceremony. “They received more than 9,000 Purple Hearts. They earned thousands of Bronze and Silver Stars. They earned 52 Distinguished Service Crosses and 21 Medals of Honor. They even won medals from the Italians and the French.”

Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, who lost his right arm while fighting with the 442nd, was a guest speaker and recipient of one of the Congressional Medals of Honor presented to the veterans The 100th Infantry Battalion, originally all Hawaiian Nisei, were the first to be trained and shipped overseas to Italy in August 1943, to fight in the European campaign.

The unit was called the “guinea pig battalion” by some and considered expendable. In the 100th’s first nine months of engagements, most notably Monte Cassino Abbey, the unit became known as the Purple Heart Battalion because of the extremely high number of casualties it suffered.  Later, the 100th Battalion was merged with the 442nd and the unit displayed combined courage and fortitude fighting in eight major campaigns in Italy, France and Germany. The 442nd’s motto of “Go for Broke” was exemplified in its hard-fought victories. Among the best known was the unit’s rescue of the Texas “Lost Battalion,” which was surrounded by Germans in the Vosges Mountains in France. The 442nd was called in after two failed attempts to rescue the 230 trapped soldiers. After a five-day, uphill battle, the 442nd broke through and rescued the Texans, at a high price — more than 800 casualties. “The 442nd Regimental Combat Team won one of eight presidential citations for that battle,” Brian said.

President Truman summed up the 442nd Regimental Combat Team’s record of loyalty and patriotism at a 1946 troop review at the White House by saying “You fought the enemy abroad and prejudice at home and you won.”

November’s trip to the nation’s capital was not the first time the Yamamotos have traveled to learn more about the World War II military history of Americans of Japanese ancestry. Two years ago, Brian and Leslie traveled with a group of friends and family of Nisei veterans to France and took a tour of battlefields in the Vosges Mountains and towns the 442nd liberated from German occupation.

“In every town they liberated, they had a big parade for us and a big dinner. It was amazing,” the Yamamotos said. To Brian’s regret, his interest in his father’s military service began shortly before his father died, and he wishes he had asked more questions earlier. He did learn from his father that while he was serving in Japan after the surrender he visited an uncle and cousin living near Tokyo and was received coldly by both men, who had served in the Japanese Army. Brian said his father never learned why his relatives were so stand-offish, saying it was unusual since most Japanese in post-war Japan were really friendly.

Brian continues to search for more information about his father’s service in the MIS, while accumulating a collection of books, patches, mementos and other items about all three Japanese American military units. Leslie shares her husband’s interest. “I loved seeing the three and four generations of families there (in Washington, D.C.),” Leslie said. “It was a proud moment for everyone.”

Brian, who has taken on the responsibility of delivering the Congressional Gold Medals to the families he, Leslie and Stuart represented, concurs “I saw four generations of Americans of Japanese ancestry represented to honor these World War II veterans. Seeing this was an encouragement for me to know that their legacy will not be forgotten.”

Contact staff writer Mary Beth Smetzer at 459-7546; msmetzer@newsminer.com

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By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2011 – When the last U.S. troops in Iraq case their colors and move to Kuwait, they can leave with their heads held high, secure in the knowledge they did what was right for America and peace in the region, President Barack Obama told service members at Fort Bragg, N.C., today.

Obama noted the end of the war in Iraq during his speech to thousands of service members — many of whom served multiple tours in Iraq since 2003.

The most important lesson from the war in Iraq is about America’s national character, Obama said.

“For all of the challenges that our nation faces, you remind us that there’s nothing we Americans can’t do when we stick together,” he said. “For all the disagreements that we face, you remind us there’s something bigger than our differences, something that makes us one nation and one people. Regardless of color, regardless of creed, regardless of what part of the country we come from, regardless of what backgrounds we come out of, you remind us we’re one nation.”

That fact is why the American military is the most respected institution in the country, the president said.

The young men and women at Fort Bragg represent more than 1.5 million Americans who have served in Iraq. More than 30,000 Americans have physical wounds from the conflict with tens of thousands afflicted by unseen wounds like traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress.

“Nearly 4,500 Americans made the ultimate sacrifice, including 202 fallen heroes from here at Fort Bragg — 202,” Obama said. “So today we pause to say a prayer for all those families who’ve lost their loved ones, for they are part of our broader American family.”

This 9/11 generation has earned its place in history, the president said.

“Because of you, because you sacrificed so much for a people that you had never met, Iraqis have a chance to forge their own destiny,” he said. “That’s part of what makes us special as Americans. Unlike the old empires, we don’t make these sacrifices for territory or for resources; we do it because it’s right.

“There can be no fuller expression of America’s support for self-determination than our leaving Iraq to its people,” he added. “That says something about who we are.”

And U.S. service members in Afghanistan are taking on the Taliban and breaking the back of al-Qaida, the president said.

“Because of you, we’ve begun a transition to … the Afghans that will allow us to bring our troops home from there,” Obama said. “And around the globe, as we draw down in Iraq, we have gone after al-Qaida so that terrorists who threaten America will have no safe haven, and Osama bin Laden will never again walk the face of this Earth.”

Soon the last soldiers will leave Iraq, and the achievements of Americans who fought there will belong to history, the president said. He compared them to the men and women who fought for independence from Great Britain and who defeated fascism and communism. He also recalled the Civil War saying this generation, like the one that fought for union, has been “touched by fire.”

“All of you here today have lived through the fires of war,” Obama said. “You will be remembered for it. You will be honored for it, always. You have done something profound with your lives.”

Today’s service members enlisted during a time of war knowing that they’d be the ones who went into harm’s way, Obama said.

“When times were tough, you kept fighting. When there was no end in sight, you found light in the darkness,” the president said. “And years from now, your legacy will endure in the names of your fallen comrades etched on headstones at Arlington, and the quiet memorials across our country, in the whispered words of admiration as you march in parades, and in the freedom of our children and our grandchildren.”

And they will remember that they were touched by fire, and can be proud they answered the call, the president said.

“You served a cause greater than yourselves, you helped forge a just and lasting peace with Iraq and among all nations,” he said. “I could not be prouder of you, and America could not be prouder of you.”

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Yokota resident recalls memories of Operation Christmas Drop

By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan – Parachutes falling on the tiny Pacific island of Agrigan looked, at first, like toys to the children who lived there in the 1960s. The kids, watching their first U.S. military aid drop, took a while to realize there were real troops and supplies dangling from the far-off parachutes, recalled one of them – Andy Nepaial, now a 52-year-old Yokota Air Base resident.

“We saw these things come out of the back of the airplane and I was yelling: ‘There are toys coming down,’” said Nepaial, who left Agrigan for the larger U.S. island of Saipan and eventually settled at Yokota with wife Elizabeth, a middle school teacher.

Preparations at the base this month for Operation Christmas Drop – an annual effort to parachute aid to about 50 Micronesian islands – sparked Nepaial’s childhood memories. “The island was trembling from the airplanes because they flew really low,” he said of the first supply drop he saw on the Agrigan. “The whole island was freaking out.”

Life on the Agrigan was primitive in those days, with no electricity or running water and locals surviving on what they could hunt, fish and gather. Help from the outside world was welcomed, especially after typhoons that periodically ravaged the area, he said.

The U.S. personnel, who parachuted down to Nepaial’s village, offered medical treatment to the islanders while local men cracked open containers full of tasty military rations, he recalled. Not all the containers hit their marks. Islanders paddled into shark-infested water to retrieve some while others were discovered, half buried in the sand, months later, by fishermen and hunters miles from the drop zone, he said.

The U.S. Air Force has parachuted aid to Pacific islands each Christmas since 1952, according to members of the 374th Airlift Wing participating in this year’s Operation Christmas Drop. Three C-130s and 68 airmen will participate over the next two weeks, according to Capt Brian Miller, a 36th Airlift Squadron pilot who will fly air drop missions as part of the operation.

The Yokota-based aircraft will collect donated items in Guam and then drop 275-pound containers of food, fishing tackle, tools and medical supplies to 54 islands, including many in the Federated States of Micronesia as well as some U.S. territories, Miller said.

The Christmas drops are great real-world experience for members of air crews, who can expect to drop supplies to troops in places like Iraq or Afghanistan when they deploy, said Miller. “What strikes me every time I fly in the Pacific is how empty it seems,” he said. “You just see nothing but water and then, occasionally, you come upon an island. If I lived on one of those islands, I would feel pretty isolated.”

Lt. Col. Mark Leavitt, a 374th pilot who flew Christmas drop missions in the 1990s, said airmen involved in the missions can expect to see groups of villagers waving from beaches each time they swoop in to drop aid. “There’s lots of jumping up and down and kids running out to try and catch the chute,” he said. “That’s why we drop it out in the water off the beach – because we don’t want it to land on anyone.”

Leavitt, who has spent time on isolated Pacific islands such as Truk, Pohnpei and Kosrae, said it’s rewarding for air crews to know that their efforts are helping the islanders. “There are always plenty of volunteers for this mission because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event,” he said.

Nepaial can still picture the parachutes falling and tells colorful stories of island life in an era when villagers still dressed in traditional costumes. But he doesn’t have any photographs from that time, even of his friends and family: Back then, nobody on the island had a camera, he said.

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