Operation Ride Home

Hawaiʻi Application Period: September 2 - October 10, 2025

Holiday Travel Assistance for Military Families

The Jack Daniels Operation Ride Home program helps bring military families together for the holidays. Operation Ride Home subsidizes the travel costs for eligible service members and their dependents to return home to spend time with their families during the holidays.

ONLINE APPLICATION WILL BE AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 2, 2025

Contact Keola Taniguchi, ASYMCA Hawai`i Executive Director, at (808) 448-1972 or KTaniguchi@asymcahi.org with any questions.

Program Overview

How it works

Travel assistance of up to $500/family member
Applicants are processed first come, first served
Travel destination must be at least 350 miles from the service member’s installation
Participants must complete an application in its entirety in order to be considered

Who is eligible

Applicants must be Active Duty E5 or below (dependents may not complete the application unless their service member is currently deployed)
Family members must travel with their service member, unless he/she is deployed at the time of travel
To apply through ASYMCA Hawaii, applicants must be stationed on Hawaii.
Command-approved with financial need

Program Application Period

The application period for Operation Ride Home 2025 is September 2 through October 10.

Make sure your Command Approval Form is complete.
Travel dates can be for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years, between November 1, 2024 and January 31, 2025.
Deadline to submit an application for consideration is October 10, 2025 at 11:59 PM (HST). Applications submitted after this deadline are ineligible and will not be accepted for consideration.
Applicants will receive a status update by October 22, 2025.

More Information

2025 Operation Ride Home FAQs HERE.
In 2024, we helped 145 junior enlisted and their family members go home for the holidays. They traveled a collective total of 6.7 million miles.
In 2023, we helped 127 junior enlisted and their family members go home for the holidays. They traveled a collective total of 6,238,709 miles.
In 2022, we helped 120 junior enlisted and their family members go home for the holidays. They traveled a collective total of 5,217,062 miles.