Photo By Master Sgt. Joseph Bicchieri | The first six Soldiers waiting in line for the 18th Annual Randy Oler Memorial...... read more read more
Subscribe
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - The United States Army Reserve has a secret weapon for the 18th Annual Randy Olmer Memorial Operation Toy Drop.
Elves.
Each year the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) runs Operation Toy Drop.
It is a joint-collective training and airborne operation established in 1998 by a Civil Affairs paratrooper. When that paratrooper, Sgt. 1st Class Randy Olmer, suffered a fatal heart attack on April 20, 2004, while performing jumpmaster duties, his friends and family in the Civil Affairs community ensured the tradition would continue.
The first Operation Toy Drop collected 550 toys for children in need.
Since then the operation has expanded to collect more than 6,000 toys in 2014. All of those toys require a lot of sorting by age and gender before they are packed for distribution.
Thousands of toys must be bagged and loaded.
Sgt. 1st Class Catherine Reese, an intelligence analyst and the chief USACAPOC(A) elf on the scene, manages the toy drop-off from the back of a rapidly filling box truck while bicycles are loaded onto a nearby van.
USACAPOC(A) elves consider themselves fortunate, because they aren't working alone.
"We got lucky," said Staff Sgt. Jessica Taylor, an intelligence analyst with USACAPOC(A). "We already have Soldiers in line and they are helping out."
Soldiers from the 65th Military Police Company arrived on the scene at 7:30 am on Dec. 3, 2015, almost 24-hours ahead of the lottery that will award spaces on the next day's jump.
They brought their presents to donate and faced the prospect of a chilly day and a colder night just to have the chance to participate in collective training and airborne operations early the next morning.
"I'm very excited. I love to jump," said Spc. Jeffrey Marrero, one of the first six MPs in line.
The elves expect to see more than 1,000 Soldiers donating toys to enter a lottery for just 600 jump slots. They did not expect to see six of those Soldiers show up before anyone else and immediately stood up to help load presents.
In the words of USACAPOC(A) elf, Sgt. Makenzie Black, "They recruited themselves."
As the elves scurry to make Operation Toy Drop successful, they inspire the Soldiers around them to contribute in the same way Sgt. 1st Class Randy Olmer inspired USACAPOC(A) to carry on his legacy.
| Date Taken: | 12.03.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 12.03.2015 23:40 |
| Story ID: | 183439 |
| Location: | FT. BRAGG, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 208 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, The legacy of Operation Toy Drop, by MSG Joseph Bicchieri, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT