American service members working to stop the spread of Ebola in West Africa may be away from home during the holidays, but they will still enjoy a Thanksgiving Day meal with all the trimmings thanks to Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support.
More than 2,700 pounds of turkey, along with 375 pounds of cranberry sauce and 700 pies, will be served to military members deployed to Liberia and Senegal, the DLA Troop Support Subsistence customer service branch chief for the Europe and Middle East regions said.
“Since they can’t be home for the holidays, our team is dedicated to bringing the holidays to them,” Anthony Amendolia said.
While the supply chain typically starts planning to ship holiday meal items six months in advance, military operations in West Africa only began a two months ago. In order to meet those short requirements, DLA airlifted the Thanksgiving meal items from the U.S. to Liberia and Senegal.
DLA Troop Support employees have also provided more than 78,000 pounds of turkey, 40,000 pounds of beef, 26,000 pounds of ham and 10,000 pies to service members deployed Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan, Amendolia said.
“Whether they’re stationed on a remote base in Afghanistan or a field hospital in West Africa, they’ll be eating a traditional American Thanksgiving meal on Nov. 27,” he said.
