USO supports deployed service members during holiday seasons away from home
USO supports troops deployed around the world
USO CEO Michael Linnington and USO regional director Alex Liccione join ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ to discuss the vital work their organizations do to support service members deployed overseas.
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The Joint Service Organization (USO) highlights its work to support U.S. service members deployed far from home and shares why this mission is especially important during the holidays.
“We stand with our soldiers when they’re deployed to forward duty, and of course during the holiday season, that’s the most challenging time for them. They miss their families,” USO CEO Michael Linnington said Saturday on “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
“They need that connection, that emotional connection. And the USO really provides a home away from home for service members overseas and those at sea,” he added.
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The USO helps care for soldiers deployed away from home during the holidays. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Linnington noted that many Americans know what the USO does at airports and in its domestic programs, but fewer understand the scope of its operations abroad.
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In some of the most remote deployments, including parts of the Middle East and Africa, the organization provides essential supplies, ways to connect with loved ones, and small comforts from home.
“Service members plan and prepare to deploy to locations in the Pacific or Europe, but ultimately find themselves in very remote desert environments in the Middle East and without access to any basic amenities,” said Alex Liccione, USO regional director.
“It’s easy to think, ‘I can buy sunscreen on the floor.’ This is not the case. There is nowhere out there to buy it,” Liccione added, explaining that it could take months for supplies to be shipped to them.
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USO care packages often include hygiene products, food items and other needs to support troops during deployment, Liccione said. He also highlighted the organization’s meal program, in which soldiers often cook family recipes.
“We do a lot of cooking shows to remind us of home,” Liccione said.
“We take service members’ family recipes and cook them while they’re there.”
President Joe Biden joins chef Robert Irvine, who serves service members and military families, at the Friendship Day dinner held at Naval Station Norfolk on Nov. 19, 2023, in Norfolk, Virginia. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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“We do deep-fried Oreo shows and they say, ‘Hey, this reminds me of the carnival in my hometown.’ So the connection is key.”
USO operates in more than 130 countries and supports service members on more than a dozen ships and destroyers, Linnington said. Founded in 1941, the organization’s mission is to support soldiers throughout their military journey.
