5 Ways Your Support Reaches Service Members Worldwide

By Trey Smith

Life in the military places constant pressure on service members and military families. From the isolation of service and constant relocation to new duty stations, to the stressors of a deployment and feeling disconnected from their loved ones, members of our Armed Forces undertake a great deal in service to this nation.

Only the USO has the access, expertise and trust to deliver consistent, steady and reliable support to service members wherever duty sends them. We are committed to strengthening their well-being — anywhere around the world, anytime.

But the USO’s support is only possible thanks to the generosity of our donors and supporters. Without you, we would not be able to carry out this crucial mission.

Curious to know how you’ve made a difference? Here are five ways your generosity reaches service members and military families around the world.“

1. You Support Service Members Spending Months at Sea

Life at sea rarely lets up. For months at a time, sailors live and work in the same tight space: long hours, limited privacy and few chances to step away. The distance from home isn’t abstract – it’s tangible every day in delayed messages, intense conditions and long stretches of silence where connection with loved ones should be.

In austere conditions such as a ship, even small comforts stand out. Since 2022, ship-based USO Centers have brought a piece of home directly onboard U.S. Navy vessels. Each ship-based Center is equipped with many of the same amenities of USO Centers on military bases and airports, including TVs, gaming equipment, comfortable seating and more. Since these Centers are unstaffed and maintained by service member volunteers aboard, the USO also provides Program in a Box kits so that sailors can host their own activities and programs. Most importantly, these USO Centers create a home-like environment onboard, where service members can relax and momentarily escape the high-stress atmosphere of life on a Navy ship.

Having this kind of space can make a significant difference for service members when pressure ramps up. In February 2026, tensions escalated across the Middle East and U.S. forces surged into the region; notably, the deployments of several Navy ships were extended. Aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford — the latter marking one of the longest post-Vietnam War carrier deployments — the USO remained a constant source of support through these ship-based USO Centers, port visits and supply deliveries. When the pressure of the mission increases, the USO provides sailors with a chance to step out of the pace of operations, just for a moment, and recharge so they can be prepared for the mission ahead.

And it is thanks to our supporters that the USO is able to provide this kind of welcoming space while out at sea.

“Having an environment onboard, when they’re out at sea for months at a time, that can give them a break away from their job and actually let them get lost in something fun, something social, something mentally challenging, or bonding with their friends watching football,” said USO donor and supporter, Victoria Weiler. “It’s very important to have an escape out on the seas with some home comforts.”

2. You Help Service Members Stay Connected to Home Despite the Distance

The gap between a deployed service member and their family isn’t just distance — it’s a weight that sits in the room every day. Life continues on back home, but something is missing. Calls are missed, messages are delayed and the silence in between service members and their loved ones can stretch longer than expected orders or shifting timelines. For families, that absence becomes part of the routine, even as they carry on through it.

Service members feel it too. Once boots hit the ground, they’re in an unfamiliar place, facing long hours and unpredictable conditions. In some deployment locations, even a simple phone call home isn’t guaranteed, with internet and cell phone signals weak, if not nonexistent. Missing that connection to loved ones can take a toll on our nation’s Armed Forces and their families.

But by supporting the USO, you help us bridge that distance between the front lines and the homefront. Programs such as the USO Reading Program helps build that bridge. The program, designed for service members stationed or deployed overseas, allows them to record themselves on camera reading children’s books aloud. The recording and a copy of the book are then sent to their child back home, free of charge.

“While I was deployed to [Kuwait], it was kind of hard being away from my family like I was, and I found out about the Reading Program that they had,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Stanley Darby. “So I used to take clips and videos of me reading to my son and I’d send them home to him. And then when I got home from deployment, it was kind of special because my wife would show me videos of my son laying down just watching me reading him books.”

These USO Reading Program recordings travel; they land back home in living rooms and bedrooms where families have been adjusting to absence since their service member received their orders. For a few minutes, that distance doesn’t seem so far when a parent’s voice can be heard again through something that can be cherished, replayed and held onto.

3. You Help Service Members Reset, Recharge and Reconnect

Service members must navigate many stressors while in service. From moving to different duty stations and the uncertainty of deployments, to the high tempo of their missions and time spent away from loved ones, life in the military can be challenging. That is why it is crucial that the people who serve have support that alleviates that stress, ensuring that they can reset and stay mission-ready.

Through the USO Canine Program, we do just that. With this program, certified therapy dogs and their handlers visit USO Centers around the world, offering service members a break from the pace of their day. When they see and interact with a USO Canine Volunteer, service members visibly relax – their shoulders drop, their faces soften and for the first time in days, weeks, or months, they smile again. These small interactions with USO Canine Volunteers – often in high-stress environments – go a long way in helping service members navigate physical and mental well-being challenges.

“Something about petting the dogs opens up their vulnerability, and they start talking to you about what’s going on, and it just kind of breaks down walls and it gives them a sense of comfort,” said Tiffany Dahany, a USO Canine Program Volunteer.

But there is more than one way your support – and the support of the USO – provides stress relief for service members. Through the USO Gaming program, service members can virtually step into a completely different space — one that feels closer to home. Whether it’s playing and bonding with fellow service members through video or tabletop games, or just taking time to decompress with a console alone, gaming offers a mental reset and brief escape from the daily stressors of their mission.

Research suggests that both animal interaction and leisurely activities like gaming can help reduce stress and support overall well-being, particularly in high-pressure environments where downtime is limited. This kind of support can be crucial for operational readiness in the field. In environments where the pace rarely slows, those moments — made possible through your support behind the scenes — offer a brief chance for service members to step out of the intensity and feel a little more like themselves again before returning to the mission at hand.

4. You Help Support Service Members During Some of Their Toughest Moments

Across the U.S. and around the world, USO Centers exist to meet service members where they are, no matter the circumstance. Each location is staffed and equipped with amenities shaped by the realities of the community it serves, offering a place to pause, reset and find a sense of familiarity in unfamiliar environments.

But there is also a different type of USO Center — one built for some of the hardest moments in a service member’s life. USO Warrior and Family Centers are designed specifically to support wounded, ill and injured service members as they move through recovery and medical treatment for both visible and invisible wounds.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors and supporters, the USO now operates four of these specialized Centers: the USO Warrior and Family Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; the USO Warrior and Family Center at Bethesda, Maryland; the USO Warrior and Family Center in San Antonio, Texas; and the USO Warrior Center in Landstuhl, Germany. These Centers are intentionally located near major military medical facilities, sitting just steps away from hospital hallways, where days are often measured in appointments, diagnoses and setbacks.

These spaces offer a way for the USO to move alongside the medical care service members are receiving nearby, providing a place for these service members to take a break from the stress of their recovery before bracing for what’s next. During the recent influx of injured service members to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center and Walter Reed Medical Center, nearby USO Warrior Centers have served as a crucial resource, extending opening hours and expanding programming to meet the needs of these service members.

And our USO Warrior Centers were built specifically with injured, ill and wounded service members in mind. They feature amenities like ADA-compliant spaces, outdoor gardens, communal kitchens and special programming tailored to engage recovering troops. Programs often include activities such as classes in art, cooking, yoga and music, as well as visits from therapy dogs that are a part of the USO Canine Program – all of which helps support military members while they are in the hospital.

In the middle of recovery, where so much feels uncertain, USO Warrior Centers are a quiet but steady resource, and a reminder that even in the hardest moments of service, no one moves through it alone.

5. You Welcome Service Members Home and Support Families Facing Loss

Coming home may not always feel the way service members expect it to. After months of deployment, the pace doesn’t just shut off. From the moment their journey home begins, service members move through crowded terminals with duffel bags in hand, stepping back into a world that has kept moving without them. While there might be relief in coming home, there is also a new reality of new adjustments. Routines must be relearned, relationships reconnected in real time and the simple act of adjusting to stillness may take time after months of operating in constant motion.

That’s where the USO meets them again — this time on the way home and afterwards. Inside airport terminals, USO Centers offer service members a pause between worlds. In between long layovers, these Centers provide a place to sit, reset and prepare for the next leg of their journey.

However, sometimes that journey home looks different when it comes to service members who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

When a service member dies in the line of duty, the USO is there. We remain steadfast in support of the people who serve at every step of their service, including when families face sudden loss and grief. The USO team at Dover Air Force Base (AFB) aids grieving military families, also known as Gold Star Families, throughout the process of a service member’s dignified transfer. Because these families can be notified of their loved one’s passing at any hour of the day or night, the USO begins by operating around the clock to coordinate support across USO Centers nationwide for families traveling to and from Dover.

While these grieving families are in transit, the USO team aims to alleviate many of the logistical hurdles so that families and friends may properly grieve and honor their fallen hero. This can include everything from ensuring that the families make their connecting flights via our USO airport lounges, to babysitting children to give the military spouse a chance to rest, to providing the family with a hot meal. In moments of overwhelming grief, these gestures can help lighten the burden for families of the fallen who are honoring their loved one. It is this support of their emotional and mental well-being that can make such a difference in a military family’s journey to a dignified transfer.

And upon arrival in Dover and throughout the actual dignified transfer process, the USO provides service members working in mortuary affairs, as well as grieving families, with quiet spaces to rest, access to Wi-Fi, refreshments and a place to step away from the overwhelming logistics surrounding their loss. No matter the hour or the need, the USO remains there for the families of the fallen.

It is thanks to the support of the American people that the USO is able to provide these programs and resources to service members and military families around the world. Your generosity carries our mission across miles and moments that matter, reminding those who serve that they are never alone — whether they are deployed overseas, returning home or beginning life after military service.