More than 14,968 pounds of turkey and 8,712 pies, including sweet potato and pumpkin, have been delivered to troops in Afghanistan.

Army Warrant Officer Raul Lewis, a food service officer with the 1st Cavalry Division Resolute Support Sustainment Brigade, organizes food support for service members in Afghanistan.

“It is an honor to serve my country. But it is an even greater honor to serve my fellow service members an outstanding meal,” said Lewis. “There is nothing more comforting when you are far away from home and missing your loved ones than to sit in front of a hot meal and share a few laughs and moments of joy.”

It takes a lot of planning to ensure food items are delivered in time so that service members can enjoy a taste of home for Thanksgiving, said Anthony Amendolia, who works with DLA Troop Support’s Subsistence supply chain in Philadelphia.

“Thanksgiving is so important to us, and such a priority, that we have to start in the April, May timeframe,” said Amendolia. “It is a long process but we think service members really enjoy having a great Thanksgiving meal with their troops.”

Some of the food that DLA Troop Support provided for service members deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan and Kuwait include:

34,760 pounds of turkey
32,550 pounds of beef
21,450 pounds of ham
28,980 pounds of shrimp
9,114 pounds of stuffing mix
879 gallons of eggnog

Each case contains 12 different meals, with items like chicken, beef stew, salmon and gefilte fish, Granato said. They also contain matzo crackers, dried fruits, nuts, cookies, coffee and tea.

As a Department of Defense combat support agency, DLA provides the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, other federal agencies, and joint and allied forces with a variety of logistics, acquisition and technical services. The agency sources and provides nearly 100 percent of the consumable items America’s military forces need to operate, from food, fuel and energy, to uniforms, medical supplies, and construction and barrier equipment. DLA also supplies more than 88 percent of the military’s spare parts.

Headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, DLA has about 26,000 employees worldwide and supports more than 2,430 weapon systems. For more information about DLA, go to www.dla.mil, www.facebook.com/dla.mil or http://twitter.com/dlamil.

Navy Capt. Mike Wettlaufer, commanding officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), serves turkey during a Thanksgiving meal Nov. 26, 2015. DLA Troop Support’s Subsistence supply chain provides service members around the world a taste of home for Thanksgiving every year. Photo by Navy Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Christopher Frost