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Operation Christmas Drop, the longest running airdrop training mission in the world, delivers critical supplies to remote Micronesian islands via a C-130 Super Hercules military transport aircraft. The program also strengthens community ties and is now a joint effort of the US, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Micronesia has close ties to the US and is protected by the US military.
Anyone who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus has never lived in Micronesia. Locals know all about the aerial benefactor that flies into the sky every December to drop bundle after bundle.
However, these gifts are actually dropped from a C-130 Super Hercules military transport aircraft as part of a US Air Force mission that has been delivering critical supplies to remote islands in the Pacific Ocean since 1952. Operation Christmas Drop, as the program known, is the longest running airdrop training mission in the world.
It also serves to strengthen community ties between residents of the Micronesian islands that span nearly a million square miles by bringing elders together to divide assets.
In recent years, Operation Christmas Drop has become a joint effort of the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Together, they supply everything from rice and medical supplies to children’s clothes and toys.
Read more about Micronesia
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Although Micronesia’s 607 islands cover only 271 square miles (702 square km) of land, they are spread over an area of 1 million square miles (2.6 million square km).
Micronesia has close ties to the United States: its official language is English, its currency is the US dollar, and it is protected by the US military.
The Kaselehlie Press is the only newspaper in Micronesia; it comes out once every two weeks, but it also has an online presence.
