About ONPATROL

Mission

The United Service Organizations (USO), founded in 1941, is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission it is to support the U.S. Armed Forces and their families by providing morale, welfare, and services while deployed and at home.

ONPATROL, the magazine of the USO, recognizes the service and sacrifice of our service men and women, their families, and the extraordinary efforts of the people and organizations that support them.

ONPATROL is about those who serve, and those who serve them. With a wide range of articles reflecting the global reach of military support, ONPATROL is published quarterly and provides not only inspirational stories, but also information and resources to troops to find programs available to them.

ONPATROL will share the stories that all Americans should hear, taking readers on a journey with our military and the organizations that support them -- from Afghanistan to Fort Bragg to San Diego to Landstuhl, Germany.

Staff

Sloan D. Gibson

Sloan D. Gibson is the 22nd president and chief executive officer of the United Service Organizations (USO), and the publisher of ONPATROL.

Prior to joining the USO in September of 2008, Gibson spent more than 20 years in banking in Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville, and Birmingham. In 2004, he retired from AmSouth Bancorporation, a New York Stock Exchange traded corporation, where he was serving as Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer. During his tenure as CFO, AmSouth was added to the S&P 500. Gibson also has a long history of service and leadership with a variety of not-for-profit organizations. In 2002, he chaired the United Way campaign in Central Alabama, which raised more than $30 million.

Gibson is a 1975 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He earned both Airborne and Ranger qualifications and served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army. He earned a Masters in Economics from the University of Missouri in Kansas City and a Masters in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

John Hanson

John Hanson joined the the USO in March 2002. As the senior vice president of the USO and editor of ONPATROL, he is responsible for internal and external communications, brand management and marketing for the USO's global operations.

Hanson came to the USO after working on veterans' issues for more than 20 years - first with the national headquarters of The American Legion, and later as the assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

At VA he served as the spokesperson and senior media advisor for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. He received the Secretary's Exceptional Service Award.

An Air Force veteran who served during the Vietnam War, Hanson is a native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He attended the University of Alabama and is a graduate of Georgia State University in Atlanta with a degree in journalism and political science.

Amy K. Mitchell

Amy K. Mitchell joined the USO in February 2009 as vice president of publications and executive editor of ONPATROL. As the vice president for publications, she manages multiple communications efforts for the USO to both internal and external audiences and develops new initiatives for the USO to share the stories that affect the military with the American people.

She joined the USO after finishing an appointment to the Department of Defense, serving as the director of special projects, public affairs, for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Among her projects at DoD, Mitchell initiated Warrior Care Month -- a month-long effort to educate service members and their families on issues facing wounded warriors. For her work at the department, she received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service.

Mitchell has over 10 years experience in communications, having served as the manager of the publications program at the Cato Institute, editor in chief of the U.S. Congress Handbook, deputy director of communications for the 2004 G8 Summit, and managing editor of The American Spectator magazine.

A graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, Mitchell holds a bachelor of arts in comparative religion.

Jeremy Borden

Jeremy Borden is a staff writer for ONPATROL. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. His work has appeared in The Charlotte Observer, The Roanoke Times, and Knight-Ridder's Washington Bureau (now McClatchy).

Borden comes to the USO from The Daily Progress in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he received two journalism awards for a series on affordable housing in central Virginia. He is originally from Lake Forest, Illinois.

Contributors

Schedule

ONPATROL is published quarterly:

• Spring (March, April, May), a Military Appreciation and Family themed issue
• Summer (June, July, August)
• Fall (September, October, November), a Wounded Warrior and Veterans themed issue
• Winter (December, January, February)

Contact

You can contact ONPATROL toll-free at 1-877-9-ON-PATROL (877-966-7287)

or

By writing to us at:

Editor
ONPATROL
2111 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1200
Arlington, VA 22201

Please send all submissions and comments via email to: EditorOnPatrol@uso.org

Thank you for going ONPATROL with the USO.