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Thanksgiving Meals For Service Members Around The World

The Defense Logistics Agency plans and delivers Thanksgiving meals to warfighters worldwide. DLA Troop Support supplies U.S. armed forces with hundreds of thousands of pounds of food to our troops by Thanksgiving eve.



Photo Credit : Air Force Tech. Sgt. Samara Taylor, Air National Guard


Defense.org ~ "The subsistence supply chain team at DLA Troop Support typically begins the process by obtaining customer forecasts for their orders in the spring, ensuring warfighters around the world have an opportunity to taste the flavors of traditional holiday meals during Thanksgiving and Christmas.

'We call it our Top 40—the Top 40 Thanksgiving items that are ordered,' said Navy Capt. Tim Griffin, subsistence supply chain director.

'We receive order forecasts from the services in the March time frame and relay that information to all of our vendors around the globe, and they begin ordering products to support the meal. Over the next several months, we track delivery of products to the vendors' warehouses. We then take it a step further by tracking every single Defense Department order [that] is placed and delivered just prior to Thanksgiving,' he said.


Working far in advance allows the subsistence supply chain offices the flexibility to deliver reliable solutions even in the event of adjusting for emerging warfighter needs.

This year, service members around the world received an estimated:

  • 9,155 whole turkeys

  • 41,745 pounds of roasted turkeys

  • 41,043 pounds of beef

  • 23,979 pounds of ham

  • 17,884 pounds of shrimp

  • 9,009 pounds of sweet potatoes

  • 85,971 pounds of pies and cakes

  • 2,274 gallons of eggnog

  • other holiday treats

Annually, DLA Troop Support supplies U.S. armed forces with over $19 billion worth of food, uniforms, protective equipment, medicine, medical supplies, construction and equipment". ~ Defense.org





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