For over 78 years, the USO has been the nation’s leading organization to serve the men and women in the U.S. military, and their families, throughout their time in uniform. From the moment they join, through their assignments and deployments, and as they transition back to their communities, the USO is always by their side. No where in the world is this more critical than in remote overseas location particularly Camp Casey, on Freedom’s Frontier.

In order to expand activities for the brave men and women serving in remote locations like Korea, innovation is a key to staying relevant and meeting their needs. “We developed a concept called “Adopt our USO” to expand our operating hours on the holiday weekend and provide our service members a place to relax and connect to home, family and country” stated Tom Higgins, USO Casey Center Manager. With the help of Chaplain David Thompson, 1-38th Steel Battalion, we were able to partner and expand operation to 24 hours from morning of 8 November 2019 until morning of 9 November 2019 to start the holiday weekennd. 1-38th Field Artillery BN provided approximately 20 volunteers to operate and fulfill this mission and give all community members a place to go. “Our soldiers were happy to help and give all soldiers a place to unwind, enjoy snacks, refreshments, games, Wi-Fi, movies, and more at the USO to start this very important holiday weekend” said Chaplain Thompson.

Volunteers are the heart of the USO. There are over 30,000 volunteers that support military service members and their family’s worldwide. However, in remote locations where soldiers are on rotational assignments and in non-command sponsored areas without dependents like Camp Casey, the availability of volunteers is extremely limited. By 1-38th FA Steel Battalion stepping forward and providing manpower the total community benefited and over 167 service members took advantage of the 24-hour opening to enjoy themselves, participate in games and various activities and relax with friends away from the work environment.

“We are always looking for better ways to serve our community and our fantastic service members,” stated Higgins. “We would also like to thank Chaplain Thompson and the Steel Battalion Team for their support and participation.”

USO Casey’s Partnership Program is designed to meet current and future needs of service members and contribute to the USO mission of strengthening America’s military service members by keeping them connected to family, home and country, throughout their service to the nation.

If you would volunteer and become a part of USO Casey team, please stop by the Center or contact us at DSN: 730-4812 or 050-3330-4812, We would love to have you on our team!!! Also, please stop by USO Casey on 27 November, at 1130 hours for our traditional Thanksgiving meal and on 18 December 2019 at 1130 hours for our annual Christmas luncheon. Please join us at USO Casey to celebrate the holidays!!

USO Casey BLDG: S-2648 TEL: DSN 730-4813/4812 comm. 050-3330-4813/4812