USO News

USO Fayetteville Opens to Help With Busy North Carolina Area

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

By Christian Pelusi 

To read the word “Regional” in the name Fayetteville (N.C.) Regional Airport, one might imagine a quaint transition hub for the eastern seaboard. But with the high concentration of bases and training facilities in the area, the region bustles daily with military members and their families which underscored the need for additional USO support.

The USO opened a new USO center in the aforementioned airport Monday to help ease the burden on four other USO centers in the vicinity (Raleigh-Durham International Airport, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune) and become an important part of supporting the estimated 400,000 servicemen and women and their families who will visit these five centers annually.

That onus got the conversation started in July 2010 toward the creation of USO Fayetteville.

“Most ask what took so long to get a USO travel center at Fayetteville Regional,” said Renee Lane, USO-N.C. Center Director Fort Bragg and USO Fayetteville. “The service members are so happy to have access to a travel center before they head to all points across the globe. We have had nothing but positive comments.”

As with real estate, the most important factor in the success of an airport center is location, location, location and Lane is very pleased with where USO Fayetteville was placed.

“Our location is inside security and next to the gate area,” she said. “We could not ask for a better location. The center is bright [with] lots of windows and a view of the runway. Only 900 square feet of space, but the designer made the most of it with plenty of seating a large kitchen area and a room set aside for parents and children.”

And all of these factors help make the jobs that Lane, her staff and volunteers perform that much easier.

Lane said: “My wish is to provide them with comfort and know that along the way there will be another USO with a friendly, helpful staff providing the high standard of service we've been known for over the past 70 years.”

Read coverage of the opening on the Fayetteville Observer’s website.  

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Photo caption: U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Christopher Jurca from Royal Air Force Station Alconbury, England and Staff Sgt. Shaun Smith from Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, check messages on their smart phones while waiting for transportation at the new Fayetteville, N.C. Regional Airport's USO center. (Credit: U.S. Army Forces Command [FORSCOM])