PORTSMOUTH — About 12,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies made their way from Bedford to the Air National Guard Base at Pease International Tradeport on Wednesday.

But many of them will soon travel much farther distances than that.

Since the first Persian Gulf War, Operation Cookie has ensured that United States military personnel stationed all over the world receive a Girl Scout cookie treat.

During the Girl Scout cookie sales season, donations come in from customers, veterans' groups and Girl Scout troops from New Hampshire and Vermont.

The cookies are stored at the guard base and distributed to servicemen and women both in the area and abroad through the Airman & Family Readiness Program.

Many donors, especially Girl Scouts, also write cards and letters and send them along with the cookies.

Mary Ellen Hettinger, communications manager for the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains, said one of her favorites this year was from a Daisy Girl Scout, the youngest group of Girl Scouts. It said simply: “Thank you for being a soldier. I hope you like cookies.”

Many of the airmen passing cases of cookies from an Able Moving and Storage truck to a warehouse on the guard base have deployed many times to different parts of the world, and many have received Girl Scout cookies while abroad.

“No one ever gets unhappy when they see Girl Scout cookies,” said Tech Sgt. Adam Hart with the 157th Air Refueling Wing. His most recent deployments were to Qatar and Spain.

Airman & Family Readiness Program Manager Bonnie Lee Rice said the cookies are also enjoyed at monthly meetings held on base for family members of deployed service men and women, and at youth activities held for children with deployed parents.

Rice said area service men and women get excited about Operation Cookie every year. She said they deliver some to the U.S. Coast Guard cutters and Navy personnel stationed at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard each year, and already they had called to ask when the delivery was coming.

Hettinger said one group of retired service members donated $1,000 for Operation Cookie.

The Airman & Family Readiness Program offers many activities and services for deployed family members, and the monthly meetings are open to families of all deployed service members.

For more information about the program, contact Rice at 430-3545 or by email at bonnie.rice@ang.af.mil.