SAN DIEGO -- For Capt. Gisele Bonitz, receiving cookies while on deployment always felt like "a taste of home."
Bonitz, executive officer of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, spoke to more than 2,000 Girl Scouts, their families and friends on May 2, at the annual Operation Thin Mint Sendoff aboard the USS Midway Museum.
"When we are deployed we long for a little piece of home and words cannot describe how we feel when those cookies show up," Bonitz said.
Since 2002, Girl Scouts San Diego has continued Operation Thin Mint, sending boxes of cookies and letters of support to deployed U.S. service members around the world.
Since then, U.S .Navy, Marine, Army, Air Force and National Guard troops stationed in Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan and Korea, and aboard ships, have received more than a decade of cookies and support from San Diegans.
This year marks the 2.5 millionth box of Thin Mints, plus other varieties, shipped to U.S. troops.
"I think this is a really great event," said Musician 2nd Class Nina Church, who sang the national anthem during the festivities. "When I was stationed overseas we got a really big shipment of Girl Scout cookies and it was a real highlight for us."
For more information on Operation Thin Mints, visit www.sdgirlscouts.org
For more news from Navy Public Affairs Support Element West, visit www.navy.mil/local/pacensandiego/.