Air Force Participates in 'Christmas Airborne Operation'

Purpose of India’s Support for South Pacific Islands

At the 'Christmas Airborne Operation' send-off ceremony held by the Air Force 15th Special Mission Wing, participating soldiers are taking a commemorative photo pledging successful training. (Photo by Air Force)

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The Air Force is conducting humanitarian aid under the name 'Operation Christmas Drop' in the South Pacific region together with the U.S. military and others. This operation is the U.S. Air Force's oldest humanitarian and disaster relief mission.

According to the Air Force on the 29th, it announced that it will participate in Operation Christmas Drop, hosted by the U.S. Pacific Air Forces Command, at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam until the 12th of next month.

Operation Christmas Drop began in 1952 by air-dropping essential supplies to island residents in the Micronesia region south of Guam. The U.S. Air Force conducts this operation every December for humanitarian aid. The Republic of Korea Air Force has participated in the training since last year at the invitation of the U.S. Air Force to strengthen humanitarian aid capabilities and enhance cooperation among participating countries. This year's training includes participants from South Korea, the United States, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

South Korea is participating with one C-130 transport aircraft from the 15th Special Missions Wing, along with a training team of about 30 personnel including pilots, maintenance crew, and support staff. The training team took off from Seoul Air Base on the day and will conduct pre-training at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. Then, during the main training from the 4th to the 9th of next month, they will air-drop medicines, clothing, and essential daily supplies to about 10 islands in the Micronesia region in three rounds before returning on the 12th.

The air-drop operation is conducted by attaching parachutes to cargo loaded on the transport aircraft and air-dropping it at low altitude onto beaches. The training team plans to directly carry out operations involving packaging, loading, and air-dropping relief supplies, thereby enhancing joint air-drop operation capabilities with multinational air forces.

Colonel Lee Deok-hee, Director of Operations Training at the Air Mobility Reconnaissance Command, which oversees the training, said, "This training will serve as an opportunity to verify the Air Force's air-drop capabilities in a new mission environment and improve the long-range operational capabilities of air mobility aircraft."