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Operation Toy Drop Proves ‘Santa is a Paratrooper'
(December 15, 2010) |
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WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2010 – Pouring rain didn't
dampen the holiday spirit as thousands of
paratroopers descended over Fort Bragg, N.C.,
this weekend, kicking off the world's largest
combined airborne operation while ensuring Santa
doesn't overlook a single needy child.
The Army's Civil Affairs and Psychological
Operations Command launched the Randy Oler
Memorial Operation Toy Drop on Dec. 11.
The first 1,300 active-duty, Army Reserve and
Army National Guard soldiers jumped from over
Fort Bragg's soggy Sicily Drop Zone before heavy
clouds moved in, scrubbing the mission for the
day. All 4,000 participating paratroopers will
get their opportunity to jump – and to earn
foreign jump wings – as the operation continues
this week. |
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Paratroopers line up in
the early morning of Dec. 10, 2010, to donate a
toy for a local child in need while hoping to
earn foreign jump wings during Operation Toy
Drop on Fort Bragg, N.C. Through the 13th annual
Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop, Army and
Air Force servicemembers are donating thousands
of toys to brighten the holidays for children
and families in need. U.S. Army photo by Staff
Sgt. Sharilyn Wells |
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The toy drop, now in its 13th year, provides valuable joint
and combined training, while enabling the military to give
back to the local community, said Army Maj. Gen. David M.
Blackledge, commander of U.S. Army Civil Affairs and
Psychological Operations Command and host of the event.
The operation involves soldiers from the 18th Airborne
Corps, the 82nd Airborne Division and Special Operations
Command. Flying them more than a dozen active- and
reserve-component C-130 and C-17 aircraft and crews from
Pope Air Force Base, N.C.'s 43rd and 440th Airlift Wings,
the 437th Airlift Wing from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C.,
the 815th Airlift Squadron from Keesler Air Force Base,
Miss., the 145th Air Wing from Charlotte, N.C., and the
118th Airlift Wing from Nashville, Tenn.
In addition, 26 jumpmasters are participating from nine
nations: Botswana, Canada, Chile, Germany, Estonia,
Thailand, Poland, Latvia, Ireland. Israel had planned to
send jumpmasters, too, but had to cancel due to big fires in
northern Israel.
The jumpmasters issue airborne commands in their native
language, with a U.S. safety official providing the English
translation that sends the paratroopers out the aircraft
door, Blackledge explained. Once on the ground, the
paratroopers get awarded the allied country's jump wings.
“This gives everybody the opportunity, not just to get the
proficiency training they need as paratroopers and air
crews, but also interoperability training with our allies,”
he said. “It provides all of us the opportunity to see how
our allies conduct the same kind of operations that we do,
and learn from each other.”
Meanwhile the complexity of the mission provides valuable
preparation for real-world missions.
“There's a tremendous amount of coordination to get all
these different units, all these different planes and all
these different paratroopers coming together at the same
time to execute an operation,” Blackledge said. “That's what
we do in real-world situations, so this gives us the
opportunity to train just as we operate.”
But the biggest bonus of the mission, he said, is the chance
to brighten the holidays for needy children who might
otherwise not receive a Christmas toy.
“That's what brings this all together and makes this happen:
bringing paratroopers, airmen and our allies together over
the holiday period for a great event that supports a great
cause,” he said.
Then-Staff Sgt. Randy Oler, a Special Forces soldier and
Ranger assigned to U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological
Operations Command, spearheaded the first Operation Toy Drop
in 1998. It grew each year until 2004, when Oler died of a
heart attack at age 43 while performing jumpmaster duties
aboard a C-130 aircraft.
Oler's spirit lives on through what's now known as the Randy
Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop. This year, it collected
more than 6,000 toys, the most ever, to be distributed
within the community.
Since its inception, the annual toy drop has collected and
distributed more than 40,000 toys in North Carolina and
Tennessee, Oler's home state. Participating paratroopers
donate most of the toys.
Every airborne unit at Fort Bragg gets allocated slots for
the jump, but not enough for every soldier to participate,
Blackledge explained. So to vie for one of several hundred
parachutes distributed through a raffle, each paratrooper
donates a new, unwrapped toy.
At 6 a.m. on Dec. 10, the day of the raffle, Blackledge was
amazed to see 1,600 soldiers lined up in 21-degree
temperatures, all holding toys with hopes they'd get to
participate.
The outpouring was amazing, he said: bikes, dolls,
electronic games, even highly coveted X-Box units. One unit
arrived with a whole truckload of toys, far surpassing its
number of paratroopers.
“American soldiers are some of the most compassionate people
in the world, and it sure shows in the toys that are coming
in,” Blackledge said. “It's really neat to be here and see
the generosity and outpouring of love.”
Army Pfc. Efren Cassiana, assigned to the 319th Field
Artillery Regiment's Headquarters and Headquarters Battery,
said he was “pretty amazed” that he was among the soldiers
who won the right to jump through the raffle.
The Operation Toy Drop jump was Cassiana's first since
graduating from Airborne School on Nov. 5. He admitted he
“had nerves” as his aircraft approached the drop zone,
knowing that with the weather conditions, the jump would be
challenging. “But once those doors opened, I felt pretty
good waiting for that green light,” he said.
Cassiana said he also felt great earning Chilean jump wings,
and knowing that the Lego block set he'd donated would make
a difference for a young child.
“Some of them don't get a lot of stuff, so what we are doing
is going to mean a lot,” he said. “It's a great feeling,
knowing that what we are doing is helping someone out.”
Army Spc. Christopher Hubbard, another 82nd Airborne
soldier, called the opportunity to earn foreign jump wings a
big motivator in signing up for the raffle that earned him a
jump slot on the initial manifest.
Proudly bearing his new Polish jump wings, he said Operation
Toy Drop “was definitely a rewarding experience, not just
for me, but for all the soldiers out here.”
Hubbard said he's also happy knowing the Transformer toy he
donated will make a difference in a little boy's holiday.
“This is a way to give back and do a good thing for the
community, especially for kids that might go otherwise not
get anything for Christmas,” he said. “I think all these
gifts, even if they're just little things, will make these
kids smile that much more.”
Blackledge called Operation Toy Drop a great way to give
back to the community that has stood behind its local units
as they conduct some of the highest operational tempos in
the military. “This is our way to show thanks to the
community by giving back to the kids,” he said. “It's a neat
way of saying we are proud to be members of this community.”
This year, for the first time, some of the young recipients
got a chance to watch the airborne operations and receive
their toys from volunteers dressed up as Santa and his
elves.
“Even though it was cold and rainy, the kids were having a
blast watching the paratroopers come down and then talking
to them,” Blackledge said. “The children at Fort Bragg know
Santa Claus is a paratrooper.” | |
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2010
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