U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman is returning to Afghanistan to celebrate Christmas with the troops, but details about the trip won’t be released until the Aurora Republican is on his way home, a spokesman said.

Before he left, Coffman told Colorado Politics that all he wants for Christmas is “for the men and women defending our nation, and their families, to know how much we appreciate their sacrifices.”

Coffman led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Afghanistan the same time last year to meet with deployed service members and military leaders. On that trip, he met with Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The lawmakers visited Al- Udeid Air Force Base, Bagram Airfield and the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

“This Christmas, I had the honor of visiting with our troops deployed in Afghanistan,” Coffman said in a statement after returning from Afghanistan last year. “Any opportunity I have to thank our deployed service members for their work, especially around the holidays, is very important to me. I also want to thank the families of those deployed who don’t have their loved one home for the holidays. I want them all to know that their service and sacrifice is appreciated.”

An Army and Marine Corps combat veteran, Coffman is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and House Veteran’s Affairs Committee. He chairs the chairs Armed Service’s Military Personnel Subcommittee and sits on Strategic Forces and Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs subcommittees. He is the only member of Congress to have served in both Iraq Wars and the only veteran in Colorado’s congressional delegation.