How US Troops Celebrate Christmas Abroad
Thousands of U.S. service members are spending Christmas overseas, deployed across Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific, continuing NATO deterrence, maritime patrols, and humanitarian missions.
Across overseas installations, troops decorate workspaces and dining areas, with bases hosting holiday meals and chaplains holding Christmas services when schedules and security allow. Sailors at sea mark Christmas between watches with decorated mess decks and holiday meals. Senior leaders have conducted morale calls from the Pentagon to troops stationed globally.
Operation Christmas Drop 2025, in its 74th year, concluded at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, delivering hundreds of aid bundles by C-130 aircraft, highlighting humanitarian relief and airlift training. In Japan, Yokota Air Base delivered cookies in the Cookie Crunch, while the U.S. Band of the Pacific performed holiday concerts to engage local communities.
USO centers, mobile units, and expeditionary teams provide festive meals, decorations, and rest spaces, including outreach to remote locations. Holiday observances and leave vary by assignment: accompanied tours in Europe and parts of the Pacific enable family presence and potential home travel, while unaccompanied deployments in the Middle East and Africa are smaller and more constrained.
Senior leaders, including Command Sgt. Maj. T.J. Holland and Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, issued holiday messages thanking troops and their families for their sacrifices. The article notes the diversity of holiday experiences by location and mission, with morale-building efforts and community engagement shaping celebrations abroad.
