CENTCOM Families and Troops Receive Holiday Care Packages

December 19, 2025
Release Number 20251219-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TAMPA, Fla. - U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) joined a nonprofit organization, Dec. 18, in providing care packages to the families of service members deployed in the Middle East region.

CENTCOM personnel distributed hundreds of care packages and teddy bears to family members as an expression of gratitude and encouragement during the holiday season. The care packages were donated through Operation Gratitude, a nationwide nonprofit that helps support deployed troops and their families.

“This event is an expression of our gratitude to our families with loved ones deployed,” said Debbra Hooks, CENTCOM’s community program specialist. “We recognize their support from back home and want to ensure they know we are thinking of them and are here for them.”

Additionally, CENTCOM facilitated the distribution of more 4,000 care packages directly to service members operating from various locations, including Jordan, Syria, and Iraq.

"We ask a lot from our warfighters and their families, and this is a small thank you to show our appreciation for what they do for our country,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Richard Harrison, CENTCOM’s chief of staff.

Headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, CENTCOM directs and enables military operations and activities to promote stability, security, and prosperity across the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. At any given time, 40,000 troops are deployed across CENTCOM’s operating area.