We’re with Mark: A USO Volunteer Who Serves His Fellow Soldiers Beyond the Uniform in Germany

By Trey Smith

Deployments aren’t just long days and rough nights – it’s distance. Distance from home and distance from the small things and routines that make life seem normal. For soldiers far from home, sometimes the real struggle is when the workday ends and all that distance sets in.

USO volunteer and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Mark Barnhill knows this all too well. Mark never planned on the USO filling in the gap of his off-duty hours. But one day at Camp Aachen, Germany, he stepped inside to fill some time and ended up finding a new way to serve – not in uniform, but in a USO volunteer shirt. After eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps and three more in the Army, Mark knows what it means to pull a long shift. Now, when his Army workday ends, he clocks back in behind the USO’s front desk – offering a helping hand and giving his fellow soldiers on base a break from their daily grind.

Serving at USO Camp Aachen

Before Mark became a USO volunteer, he didn’t grasp the full depth of the USO and the services that the organization offers. He initially started visiting the USO when he was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, as a place to grab a quick snack. However, it was during his current deployment to Camp Aachen when Mark not only realized the many ways the USO serves the military community, but also that he could get involved himself as a volunteer.

Staff Sgt. Mark Barnhill, a service member in the U.S. Army and USO volunteer. | Photo credit Courtesy Photo

It was just a regular day when Mark walked by the local USO Center and noticed it for the first time. Out of curiosity, he stepped inside and found a place that would soon feel like home.

“As I was walking by, the USO was right across the way, so I thought, ‘I’m going to walk in there,’” Mark said. “I asked about volunteer opportunities, signed up that day and I’ve been rolling ever since.”

Since then, Mark has become a lifeline for the local military community that visits USO Camp Aachen. After completing his 10-hour shift with the Army, he heads straight to the USO Center, where he volunteers an additional 9 to 10 hours every day. This tireless routine isn’t driven by obligation, but by a deep sense of purpose and care for his fellow service members.

Mark volunteers daily at USO Camp Aachen, supporting programs that bring comfort, connection, and a personal touch to service members, even during deployment. | Photo credit Courtesy Photo

As a daily volunteer, Mark plays an active role in the many programs and events offered at USO Camp Aachen. Through Self Care Sundays, USO volunteers offer face masks, meditation guides and more — helping service members find moments of calm, even when deployed. The Center also offers service members with a quick bite to eat with PB&J Wednesdays and Friday Franks, and Mark is always there to lend a hand. The USO Center also recognizes and celebrates service members’ birthdays with sweet treats, giving Mark a chance to share his love of baking and add a personal touch to each celebration.

His volunteer work with the USO also gives Mark an opportunity to connect with soldiers out of uniform – meeting them not just as troops, but as people with the same families, worries and concerns beyond the base gates. He gets to see the human side of service members that’s often hidden behind rank and routine. Those off-duty moments remind him why the work he does matters.

“As soon as I take my uniform off, I relate with the soldiers as if I’m a civilian,” Mark said. “And then seeing how those service members communicate with me on a different level, compared to how they would with me wearing a staff sergeant rank in uniform, is super rewarding. I can see them as a person, and they see me as a person. I learn about them personally and I can help them on a more personal level than what I can in uniform.”

Just as his community benefits from his selfless volunteerism, Mark gains something valuable in return. His current deployment to Germany is his first after more than a decade of military service. With a wife and two young daughters back home, he often felt disconnected from his loved ones. Volunteering at the USO has given him a sense of purpose and connection, helping ease the emotional distance of being away from his family.

“I have two kids and a wife at home [so it was] pretty difficult, to say the least, starting out. But all I can say is once I found the USO and I started volunteering, that made that stressor go away,” Mark shared. “Doing the reading program for my daughters, being able to reach them in that way really helped out my personal feelings of being away from them. It’s really helped make my time deployed go smoothly and not as stressful as some would say.”

Other service members like Mark who are serving in distant locations can utilize the USO Reading Program, just as he did, to stay connected to their loved ones back home. The USO Reading Program remains one of the USO’s most popular programs for military communities overseas – and especially for deployed service members.

Through this program, service members first record themselves on-camera reading a book to their child back home. Once service members have finished their recording, the USO then has that recording and a copy of the book sent home to a son, daughter, sibling or any other child in their life, ensuring that their service member is “home” for bedtime.

Aside from the USO Reading Program, Mark is also passionate about sharing the benefits of other USO programs with his fellow service members, including the USO Transition Program, which he talks up every chance he gets, making sure no service member misses out on a chance to plan their next step after military service.

As both a volunteer and a soldier, Mark is deeply passionate about ensuring that his fellow service members are aware of the USO Transition Program — a program he believes is essential for anyone preparing to move forward in their military or post-military journey. He often takes the time to personally share information about the program with soldiers who visit the USO Center, highlighting how it can support them with career planning, education opportunities and life after active duty. Mark understands how critical it is to have guidance during major life changes, and he sees it as part of his mission to make sure others don’t navigate those transitions alone.

“Seeing them realize that the program exists just shows me that soldiers often don’t [know] what’s available to them,” Mark shared. “And when they hear that there’s education like that available, they’re like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so glad you told me, I’ve been looking for something like that.’ So just being able to help them and share what the USO can offer in their everyday life really means a lot.”

The program extends the USO experience to active duty, Reserve, National Guard and military spouses by offering professional development services throughout the duration of military service, as well as in preparation for life post-military. It offers everything from training in financial readiness, assisting with educational opportunities, networking, career advice and so much more.

Our supporters make our mission possible, and allows us to serve service members and their families. Every level of support helps keep doors open and offers service members a welcoming space where they can relax, connect and unwind.

“The USO [allows] soldiers that are either away from family or in mid-travel or coming to and from work to open their horizons for more relaxing programs for them and their families.”

Mark knows he can’t fix everything for every one of his fellow soldiers, but if he can help them breathe a little easier or feel a little less alone, that’s enough for him. His tireless effort in supporting other people who serve like him is why he was named the USO’s 2025 Volunteer of the Quarter for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. For the soldiers at Camp Aachen, Mark’s steady presence as a USO volunteer will continue to make a positive difference in their daily lives deployed overseas.

Are you interested in giving back to the people who serve and volunteering with the USO? Learn more about what it means to be a USO Volunteer and if there’s a USO Center near you by clicking here!