DLA Troop Support Subsistence is the Defense Logistics Agency’s global food supply chain for the U.S. military. It buys, manages, and delivers everything from individual field rations to fresh food for ships and base dining facilities, ensuring that service members and some other federal customers are reliably fed wherever they are stationed or deployed. Its mission is to provide full‑service subsistence support worldwide to meet the readiness and mobilization needs of U.S. military personnel and their families, and to give them “a taste of home,” especially during holidays and deployments.
Holiday meals are planned and organized months in advance. DLA Troop Support Subsistence begins planning in the spring and takes orders from units, then works through its network of “subsistence prime vendors” (large food suppliers) around the world to source turkeys, beef, ham, shrimp, desserts, and other items. The food is shipped through military logistics channels (e.g., Navy fleets, Military Sealift Command, DLA Europe & Africa, DLA Indo‑Pacific) so that dining facilities on ships and overseas bases receive everything before the holiday, even if missions or ship locations change at the last minute.
The article highlights that holiday meals went to service members “stationed around the world,” and gives specific examples rather than a complete list. Examples include:
The article does not state a precise number of “meals,” but it does list the total holiday food quantities DLA shipped for this effort. For December holiday meals in 2025, military members were to receive:
Holiday meal deliveries are funded as part of normal Defense Department subsistence and operations budgets, not by a separate public program. DLA Troop Support Subsistence, acting as the Defense Department’s Executive Agent for Subsistence, plans, procures, and manages the food through contracts with commercial “prime vendors.” Coordination involves DLA Troop Support (in Philadelphia), DLA Europe & Africa and DLA Indo‑Pacific, the military services, Navy fleet logistics organizations, Military Sealift Command, and base or ship dining facilities to ensure the food reaches service members in time for the holidays.
Yes. According to DLA leaders in the article, providing holiday meals is a recurring, annual mission. The subsistence team starts planning each spring and “providing holiday meals to warfighters around the globe each year” is described as one of its most important missions. Separate DLA and Defense.gov stories show the same type of global holiday and Thanksgiving meal support happening year after year.
The full article is available on Defense.gov at the original link:
