Operation: Bright Holidays Published Dec. 30, 2013 By Airman 1st Class Lauren Pitts Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- With many families rushing home for the Holidays, it becomes one of the busiest times of year to travel. As prices for fuel and airline tickets skyrocket, it becomes increasingly more difficut for Minot Airmen to find a way home. However, this year, a few select Airmen received a free ticket home thanks to Operation: Bright Holidays. Airman 1st Class Scott DeAngelo, a contracting administrator for the 5th Contracting Squadron, was one of the five Airmen selected for the operation, and received a free trip home for the holidays. "It was amazing; it felt great to know I was going home," said DeAngelo, who hasn't been home in almost two years and is using the trip as a way to surprise his family. "It was so exciting, and it's a huge relief." The other four Airmen selected for the program were Airman James Harriss, a missile alert facility chef with the 741st Missile Squadron, Senior Airman Kenneth Archie, a unit deployment manager with the 5th Munitions Squadron, Airman 1st Class Kevin Morgan with the 5th Operations Support Squadron, and Airman 1st Class Julian Bustos, a vehicle operator with the 5th Logistics Readiness Squadron. Officers from both the 5th Bomb Wing and the 91st Missile Wing worked together to raise money to send junior enlisted Airmen home for the holidays. "This has been done at other bases before," said 1st Lt. Benjamin Wood, a 5th Operations Support Squadron weather officer. "They've been doing this every year at Barksdale for a while, so we figured we would give it a try at Minot." Once the program was authorized, the team raised $3,710 for the cause in just one month. "It was very exciting; everyone in town was really supportive of the idea," said Wood. "Being able to send someone home for the holidays is awesome." The officers found that the most difficult part of the operation was choosing the Airmen to send home. The CGOC passed word of the program onto each squadron's first sergeants, who then passed the information onto supervisors. The supervisors decided which of their Airmen were most deserving. Capt. Richard Landsverk, the 5th Operations Support Squadron Weather Flight commander, explained how the nominations were not only based on top performers but also on personal factors as well. "Once we had all the applications, we racked and stacked them against each other," said Landsverk. "Then based on how much money we had raised, we determined how many Airmen we could afford to send home." The donations paid for five Airmen: three round-trip plane tickets and two gas cards. Landsverk and Wood joined the units and supervisors of each selected Airman to present them with the exciting and surprising news. With such support from base leadership, and the local community, the officers intend to make Operation: Bright Holidays a holiday tradition at Minot Air Force Base. By beginning to accept donations earlier in the year, the council hopes to send more Airmen home each year. "Someone should always get to go home for the holidays," DeAngelo said. Landsverk describes the process of beginning the program as hard work, but worth every moment. "All of our work paid off," said Wood. "It was worth it to see the look on their faces when they found out they were going home."