Sometimes, the young recruits killing time in the USO lounge at the local military processing station just want to stare at their iPhone and not be bothered.
Sometimes, though, they have questions. They are scared, excited, bursting with pride and drowning in anxiety all at once. And that's a lot of emotions roiling around inside an 18-year-old's head. That's when Frank Walker can help the most. He's been there, and that matters.
"I ask them why they're joining, try to find out what they want to get out of the service, and encourage them to relax," said Walker, 78, and a Navy man himself. "Then I tell them the decision they're making will be worth their while if they take advantage of everything this country's military has to offer. And I wish them good health and good luck."
This is the role of the USO: to meet the needs of active-duty service members and help them stay connected to their families and those they love. And the USO of Central and Southern Ohio has been doing that for 50 years.
The national USO, started by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941 before the United States' inevitable entry into World War II, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. But the local USO took a break as an organization between WWII and Vietnam.
It will celebrate its 50 years of service with a fundraiser and gala tonight at the Ohio Union on the Ohio State University campus, including a Bob Hope impersonator from Las Vegas.
The local organization serves 57 of Ohio's 88 counties and three in northern Kentucky. In addition to its lounge at the Military Entrance Processing Station on Taylor Road in Gahanna, the local USO operates lounges for traveling service members at the airports in Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati/northern Kentucky. And in February it opened a 9,000-square-foot center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base outside Dayton; the renovated space has a cafe, an auditorium and a lounge and game room where troops can relax, spend time with their visiting families or hold events.
"That's what the USO is all about — lifting the spirits of the troops and their families," said Jackie Spector, events coordinator for the local chapter, which operates out of an office near the Defense Supply Center Columbus on Yearling Road.
"We are a connection point, to connect them to whatever they need or to who they love."
In the various lounges, troops can relax, charge their phones, get a snack, watch television and even pick up sundries such as a new toothbrush and soap. At the airport lounges in particular, where new recruits are shipping out to boot camp, that last perk comes in remarkably handy, Spector said.
"A lot of these kids have never even been on a plane before, so they come in carrying gallon jugs of shampoo," she said with a laugh. "Our volunteers kindly tell them that that isn't how this works."
With its $1.2 million annual budget (all from private and corporate donations), the USO of Central and Southern Ohio served 105,000 people through its programs last year and has about 700 volunteers. It puts on summer camps for children of Ohio's military members, sponsors family retreats, holds send-off and homecoming events for deployments, and even puts on marriage-enrichment events.
"You tell someone you're with the USO, and people look at you like, 'That's still around?' It breaks my heart a little bit," said operations manager Sue Ann Carroll. "The USO is a friend, a connection to home, and whether you're an officer just passing through an airport or a kid heading off to boot camp, a Coke and a smile can make all the difference."
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