Two Fort Riley-based 1st Infantry Division units are currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

Two Fort Riley-based 1st Infantry Division units are currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

Two Fort Riley-based 1st Infantry Division units are currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

Two Fort Riley-based 1st Infantry Division units are currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

Two Fort Riley-based 1st Infantry Division units are currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

Two Fort Riley-based 1st Infantry Division units are currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

Two Fort Riley-based 1st Infantry Division units are currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

Two Fort Riley-based 1st Infantry Division units are currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

Two Fort Riley-based 1st Infantry Division units are currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

Two Fort Riley-based 1st Infantry Division units are currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

Two Fort Riley-based 1st Infantry Division units are currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

Two Fort Riley-based 1st Infantry Division units are currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

PAKTIKA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – A 1st Infantry Division Soldier serving in Afghanistan with the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team enjoys a Christmas meal at Combat Outpost Zerok, a small U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan’s mountainous Paktika Province, Dec. 25, 2012. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

PAKTIKA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – A 1st Infantry Division Soldier serving in Afghanistan with the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team carves slices of meat for fellow troops spending Christmas Day at Combat Outpost Zerok, a small U.S. base in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika Province, Dec. 25, 2012. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Fort Riley Soldiers deployed with the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, stand in line for a holiday meal at Combat Outpost Muqor, Afghanistan, Dec. 25, 2012. Soldiers at Muqor, a small base in Afghanistan’s southeastern Ghazni Province, set time aside Christmas Day to “deck the halls” of their outpost with ornaments, decorations and even a frozen ice sculpture. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

PAKTIKA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – A Soldier deployed to Afghanistan with Fort Riley’s 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, serves up slices of a holiday meal Christmas Day at Combat Outpost Zerok. Two Fort Riley-based 1st Infantry Division units are currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Roland Hale, RC-East Public Affairs)

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (December 25, 2012) – Two Fort Riley-based 1st Infantry Division units, the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and the Division Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, spent Christmas Day this year at combat outposts across eastern Afghanistan.

While the mission did not stop for these Soldiers, they did their best to celebrate the holiday season.

Maj. Gen. William C. Mayville Jr. and Command Sgt. Maj. Charles V. Sasser Jr., the command team of the 1st Infantry Division and Regional Command - East, did their part to spread Christmas cheer by visiting “Big Red One” troops at several remote outposts. Mayville and Sasser were accompanied by a jazz trio from the division band, who performed for Soldiers at each stop.

Both units are scheduled to return to Fort Riley this spring, so in addition to Christmas, they celebrated the day as the last major holiday they will spend apart from their loved ones.