FORT HOOD, Texas -- During the holiday season, American armed forces remain deployed all over the world; 1.4 million brave folks who volunteer and perform a heroic service, represent just .04 percent of the American population.

Within the Army alone, there are nearly 182,000 Soldiers deployed to 140 countries, at any given time.

Although these service members would rather be home with their loved ones, they accept their duty with pride and dignity without complaint.

Try to imagine yourself serving far away from home as our Soldiers do. Many of these Soldiers pull duty on all major holidays because our adversaries never stop and the security of our nation is of utmost importance at all times.

To remember our service members during this special time of year, I encourage everyone to bring cheer to those who will not be home this year. There are many ways to brighten these folks' day that most may not think about.

If you don't know someone directly serving away from home, contact your friends or relatives to get the name and address of someone serving away from home. You can send a Christmas card with a note of encouragement. Simple kind acts will go a long way to someone that is not home. They will be happy knowing that someone is thinking about them.

Regardless of a Soldier's duty station, it is not the same as being home for Christmas. Most civilians unfamiliar with the military only think of Soldiers serving away from home as those serving in combat zones, and forget about those who are serving in other countries like Japan, Korea or Kuwait.

All Soldiers serving away from home share a common bond -- they all miss their homes and holiday activities with Family and friends.

Our military is on watch 24 hours a day, which means someone is actively serving at all of our military installations no matter what time of day.

It is not too late to do something for the Christmas season, but Soldiers serving away from home often receive Christmas cards and packages after the holidays due to missed package shipping deadlines. I assure you, Soldiers away from home are happy to receive a card, note, letter or package anytime of the year and most certainly appreciate the person sending the item.

Use the following website for United States Postal Service mailing deadlines: http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2017/pr17_063.htm.

During this holiday season, please try and do something for those Soldiers deployed or even stationed overseas defending our great nation, and keeping America great.

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About the U.S. Army Operational Test Command:

As the Army's only independent operational tester, USAOTC tests and assesses Army, joint, and multi-service warfighting systems in realistic operational environments, using typical Soldiers to determine whether the systems are effective, suitable, and survivable. USAOTC is required by public law to test major systems before they are fielded to its ultimate customer -- the American Soldier.