USO News

USO Helos USO in a Box to Camp McCrady

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Talk about a special delivery. A USO in a Box -- a portable, two-room USO centers -- was delivered to Camp McCrady in Eastover, S.C., on May 26 via Chinook helicopter as part of the mobilization and deployment process for troops. Military personnel headed to Afghanistan engage in a three-week training period at Camp McCrady and the process begins anew each month, with approximately 300 to 400 troops readying during each cycle.

For Camp McCrady, the arrival of a USO in a Box gives service men and women a resource for entertainment and comfort during their training period. Each USO in a Box serves as an expandable Tactical Operations Center that can be unfolded and operational within 20 minutes of being dropped on-site. The unit provides troops with Internet access, laptops, televisions, a DVD player, Voice Over Internet Phone, Xbox® 360 gaming systems and surround sound as well as interior climate control.

The arrival of the popular USO in a Box comes one year after the opening of South Carolina's first USO center at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport in June 2010. The facility spans more than 900 square-feet and serves approximately 46,000 service members traveling through the airport each year while also catering to more than 65,000 active duty troops and their family members stationed at Fort Jackson, Fort Gordon, Shaw Air Force Base, 81st Regional Support Command (USAR), McEntire Joint National Guard Base and Camp McCrady. The center is replete with the customary comforts of home that the USO is known for like Wi-Fi access, computer stations, Xbox® 360 game systems, big screen TVs and more. Look them up in the airport atrium during your next arrival or departure. -- Christian Pelusi, USO