Your USO at Work, December 2012 Edition

Your USO at Work - December 2012 Newsletter Ground Broken on Second USO Warrior and Family Center    A row of shovels pierced the dirt. The dignitaries smiled beneath their hard hats.    The moment, the groundbreaking at the new USO Warrior and Family Center on the campus of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, slated to open in 2014, was symbolic.    Soon, it will be much more.    "We're building hope here and this is the beginning of that journey," USO President Sloan Gibson said. "Hope for our healing heroes and for their families. [This will be] a place where futures are planned and where they are launched."    Every decision in designing the new center -- and a sister site at Fort Belvoir, Virginia -- was made not just with the wounded, ill and injured troops in mind, but also caregivers and families.    The 16,217-square-foot USO Warrior and Family Center will keep families together and strong.    Healing is not a solitary act. That's why features such as the Fireside Lounge are important, offering a space for the family to relax together. Or the Children's Playground and Children's Garden, where the little ones can cut loose and explore.  read more... Mullens Honored at 2012 USO Gala    The USO celebrated former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and his wife, Deborah, as 2012 Spirit of the USO honorees at the USO's annual gala on November 2 in Washington. Throughout Mullen's celebrated military career, he and Deborah were staunch supporters of the USO and its mission.    "We've watched, up closely and very personally, the USO for decades affect our lives, but more importantly, affect the lives of those we care about the most, both in peace and in war and at the most difficult times," said Mullen, who retired in 2011. "If I were going to sum it up … it would be to bring that smile, that support, that little piece of home into the hearts and souls of those who serve around the world and do so, so nobly, for so long." Support in Sandy's Aftermath    The USO's response to Superstorm Sandy began even before the winds and rain died down.    Joan Ashner, a volunteer with USO of Metropolitan New York, walked 50 blocks, as the storm raged around her, to open the Times Square USO Center on Oct. 29, in case Joint Task Force Empire Shield troops needed a break.    "It was a little hairy," she said. "If there are troops on duty, the USO must also be on duty."    As it turned out, Empire Shield troops -- tasked preventing terrorist attacks in New York -- were diverted elsewhere and the Port Authority forced the USO Center to close until the storm passed.    Ashner was back less than 48 hours later and two USO Mobile vehicles from North Carolina and Virginia were headed north to support the more than 7,000 National Guardsmen deployed to the region for cleanup and relief effort.   read more... Serving Those Who Serve    For the dozens of Americans on the ground in Benghazi, this year's 9/11 brought another terrifying scene, one that left several wounded and four dead, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens.    But when the C-17 carrying the evacuees touched down at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the USO was there and ready to provide comfort at the end of a horrifying ordeal.    "You could just tell by the looks on their faces," said Konrad Braun, area director of USO Kaiserslautern.    Dozens of evacuees stepped off the plane around 10 p.m. on Sept. 12, many with only the ragged clothes on their backs.    When Braun learned the Americans -- mostly State Department employees -- would be arriving, he rounded up a group of 11 USO staffers and two volunteers who filled a van with assorted clothing items before assuring the USO Center at the Joint Mobility Processing Center was stocked with snacks, toiletries, laptops and televisions. Hot meals were also provided.  read more... A New Way to Serve    Elizabeth Vallette's first experience with the USO wasn't exactly lifechanging, but it lifted the spirits of a cash-poor West Point cadet making her way through an airport en route to a training assignment.    "Another cadet came running ... up the terminal at us, screaming ‘Free hot dogs at the USO,'" Vallette said.    Later, during a 12-month deployment to Iraq with III Corps in 2004, the USO brought comedian Robin Williams to her base in Baghdad.    "His show was perfect timing," Vallette said. "It was just sinking in that things were not going well. We really needed the pick-me-up, and he delivered."    After leaving the Army, Vallette spent time as an MBA student at the University of Houston and worked for a Canadian nonprofit in Kabul, Afghanistan. read more... P&G's Gala Glam Every year, the USO selects a service member from each branch and a military volunteer to honor at its star-studded gala in Washington, D.C. With a roomful of guests to impress, honorees and their family members -- like Jessica Perkins, wife of USO Soldier of the Year Staff Sgt. Jacob Perkins -- need to look good. That's where P&G's Beauty and Grooming Salon stepped in. read more... Visit us online at USO.org or at

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