Photo By Staff Sgt. Kelly Carlton | David Yoo, Osan Air Base USO center manager, looks on as service members populate the...... read more read more
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea – The USO on Osan Air Base was experiencing growing pains over the last year, but the all-volunteer organization who provides “a home away from home” for service members and their Families celebrated an expansion with a grand opening ceremony held in building 916, Aug. 5.
“Over the last year, we have continued to outpace the facility,” said Greg Phillips, Korea area USO director. “I told past leaders that I needed more space if I was to meet or exceed their expectations. Now we’re expecting to see 4,500 to 6,000 service members a month.”
This expansion has been more than a year in the planning, said Hasi Jackson, USO Osan duty manager. Much of the growth is due to more and more of the Osan community utilizing the facility and taking advantage of the offered programs.
“We have seen a rise in participation in our programs so the area office approved our request for additional space,” Jackson said. “We were donated the Community Center’s gaming room so now we have more computers, new massage chairs and also a gaming room of our own.
The USO operates solely on donations and the Osan community is projecting many more services and programs as a result of this improved facility.
“We have more computer systems, more TVs, and we even have Skype phones,” Jackson said. “We want this to be a place to come and relax so we were able to add a new luggage rack for anyone waiting for a flight.”
Not only will those who call Osan home be able to enjoy the larger facility but so will all of the service members who deploy to the peninsula for various training events.
“We have so many transient folks that come in for exercises,” Phillips said. “I remember last summer we had 100 Marines laying on the floor in the smaller space. There was no other place to put them and we were trying to feed them.”
Today, the dream has come true said Phillips.
“It’s no longer the three little chairs and four little computer tables. Now we own the whole thing and eventually this entire building will belong to the USO. We’re going to be even more robust,” he said.
For more information find USO on the internet and social media:
https://www.uso.org/
https://www.facebook.com/USOatOSAN/?fref=ts
Twitter: @the_USO
| Date Taken: | 08.05.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.12.2016 02:53 |
| Story ID: | 206878 |
| Location: | OSAN AIR BASE, KR |
| Web Views: | 60 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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