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 CAMP
BUEHRING, Kuwait (1/13/2012) – Far from home, a group of American
civilians oversee and maintain a wide range of equipment, from
phones to Play Stations, in the middle of a sand-strewn Kuwaiti
desert to better the lives and improve the morale of soldiers.
Civilian employees of the United Service Organizations leave
their families and friends behind in the states to travel overseas
to provide moral support and foster a stress-free environment for
soldiers. To them, the sacrifice is worth it.
“When you have
a job in which the main focus is to lift spirits and to put a smile
on someone's face, it's one of the best positions anyone could have
in their entire life, so I cherish every moment of it,” said Tiffany
Banks, of Virginia Beach, Va., the Center Director for the USO
center at Camp Buehring, Kuwait.
Banks has been working for
the USO for about eighteen months and said that she realizes the
importance of the military and the services the USO provides for
deployed military members.
“I think it's very valuable in
this region, especially in Afghanistan,” Banks said. “To have a bit
of departure from the mission and war, it's imperative to bring
light [into] darkness and that's what we try to do.”
Banks
said it is a pleasure to be in Kuwait helping soldiers find a sense
of home. She also said the USO is here for all military members, and
that all of the activities, events and resources are planned around
military members' needs, wants and ideas.
Although Banks is
the Center Director, she is only one of several volunteer-employees
who come from all walks of life and make up the USO team.
Every volunteer has his or her reasons for joining the USO.
“I feel that every American should do something for their country,”
said Shea Carson, a native of Slidel, La., and a duty manager at the
USO.
Carson said that because his father was in the military,
he knows firsthand the sacrifices people in the military make and
what it takes to have the freedoms that America boasts. Carson said
giving something in return for the sacrifices soldiers make is
important to him.
“There really aren't words. For me to do
something to give back [and] where you make an instant difference,
it's immeasurable, it's amazing,” Carson said.
Carson
explained that the USO and its staff try to bring a part of America
to foreign soil. He said that with the facilities the USO provides,
soldiers fresh from Iraq or Afghanistan can sit back and watch a
college football game and for that short period of time, the soldier
is not at war or in Kuwait, but back at home.
Carson is not
alone. There are other people who volunteer their time to the USO,
and those are the very soldiers whom Carson and Banks serve.
“It is my way to pay back the USO for everything they have done
for me,” said North Andover, Mass., native, Sgt. Raul Zubicaray, a
USO volunteer and quartermaster soldier assigned to the B Company,
3rd Battalion, 197th Field Artillery Regiment, a National Guard unit
from N.H..
Zubicaray said that during his time in the
military, he has had good experiences with the USO. He gives special
credit to the USOs in the airports and the services they provide for
soldiers when they travel.
Using the skills he has acquired
throughout his life and Army career, Zubicaray repairs and maintains
everything in the USO from the Play Stations and movie projectors,
to the telephones and televisions, ensuring that soldiers have
access to operable equipment.
“It is a very fulfilling
service,” Zuicaray said. “I do it because I feel it is the right
thing to do.”
Soldier-volunteers aid in the daily operation
of USO facilities and take responsibility for how things are run
when the USO workers are not present. One USO employee describes the
role of volunteers as critical to the USO.
“I don't know if
we could operate the same way without our volunteers,” said
Brooklyn, N.Y., native and USO employee Jaime Bowman, who has been
in Kuwait for about six months.
To Bowman, the volunteers are
invaluable. She said the volunteers help with everything from
regulating crowds for events to acting as chefs during barbeques to
being a shoulder to lean on for someone who needs it. She went on to
say that the volunteers even stay beyond their shift to ensure the
USO is clean and ready for the next day.
“It wouldn't be the
same USO if we didn't have a staff of volunteers who help us the way
that they do,” Jaime attested.
Some soldiers who utilize the
USO and its facilities recognize the sacrifices and commitment the
USO workers make in helping soldiers.
“It means a lot that
they come over here, take time out of their life and spend time away
from their family, their kids and they are doing all this for us
just to help us out,” said Michael Accatatta, an Edison, N.J.,
native and a forward observer assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat
Team, 1st Cavalry Division.
Accatatta said that he likes the
fact that there are people out there who are willing to make similar
sacrifices that soldiers make, by going overseas to help soldiers.
He said the USO employees are great people who are willing to lend a
hand or answer a question, and always with a smile.
Accatatta
describes the USO as a great place to meet with friends, play video
games, watch movies and relax. He said that that the
volunteer-employees of the USO play an important role in being able
to unwind and take a break from everything and that he is thankful
for what they do.
By Army Sgt. John Couffer
1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry
Division
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2012
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