Army Spc. Alex Coffman is hoping to one day become a non-commissioned officer, but to do that, he needs to spend some time in school.

That work will keep him here on Fort Drum this weekend, instead of going home for Thanksgiving.

“I mean, I have a 2-year-old, so I'm going to them,” Coffman said.

Stories such as that is why Fort Drum brings the holidays to soldiers.

What You Need To Know

  • Most Fort Drum soldiers will get the Thanksgiving weekend off

  • However, that doesn't mean all soldiers will get to go home to enjoy time with family

  • Fort Drum held a special Thanksgiving dinner Tuesday to give those soldiers a little taste of home

“Everybody knows that it’s always good to meet people with food,” CW1 Dwayne Donegan said. “So you get food. You can always bring people together and give them food to each other's company."

Fort Drum hosted a special Thanksgiving meal on Tuesday as a way for soldiers to connect and feel that family away from home.

“There's definitely people aren't going to go home with their families, but they're going to be here. At least they're all here together,” Spc. Kevin Brown, Coffman’s classmate, said.

“We've been doing this for over 15 hours, as far as the cooking portion,” Donegan said.

Fort Drum’s culinary teams worked around the clock to make sure the food was ready and everything was perfect.

“We have over 92 food service personnel here in our facility. We had a decorating team and also a cooking team,” Donegan said of the Food Service Team.

Donegan is the food service advisor for the 1st Brigade Combat Team on Fort Drum. While his food team did a masterful job, his decorating team really pulled off some magic.

“Especially out here in this cold weather. You get them a home-away-from-home out here in Vegas today,” Donegan added.

It was this type of care, small touches, that helps soldiers like Coffman understand that no matter how far away they are from home, they are never alone.

“I mean, I wouldn't want to be here with anybody else [other than family],” Coffman said.

The soldiers are members of the 10th Mountain Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team.

However, other brigades were enjoying meals, too, with staffs scored for a competition. The 1st Brigade came out victorious.

Most soldiers get four days off, Thanksgiving through Sunday, and head back to work Monday.