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USO center now open at Sky Harbor Airport’s Terminal 4

By Amy B Wang The Republic | azcentral.com Thu Nov 15, 2012 10:05 PM

Traveling military members and their families now have a sprawling new space to call “home away from home” at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

With fanfare and emotion, the United Service Organization, a national non-profit that provides services to troops, opened its 3,000-square-foot center Thursday in Sky Harbor’s Terminal 4.

The space is about three times larger than the old USO center in Terminal 2, which it replaces. Active military members and their families can use the new space to use free wireless Internet, make domestic phone calls, eat snacks and play video games. There also is a movie room, children’s play area and storage space for luggage.

More than the amenities, though, is the sense of belonging that USO officials hope the center will provide for troops passing through Sky Harbor, the sixth-busiest airport in the country.

Officials estimate the new USO center at Sky Harbor will serve 1,500 troops and military family members per month. The one in Terminal 2 saw about 500 visitors a month.

“We just try to make them feel at home,” said Lorri Wick, an Apache Junction teacher who began volunteering at the USO center six years ago after her son joined the Marines.

She witnessed family reunions, tearful goodbyes, grown soldiers perched on tiny chairs playing Sony PlayStation as they slogged through long layovers.

Wick also noticed patterns over the years. For one, she said, children of military families always seemed to pick up after themselves.

“When they leave the kids’ room, it is just as clean and organized as when they went in,” she said.

There are about 160 USO centers at airports across the country, and most are volunteer-run. Two paid workers and more than 200 volunteers will staff the Phoenix center, USO spokeswoman Angela Sok said.

Maj. Gen. Hugo Salazar, who attended Thursday’s opening, said the USO network has become indispensable to his travel routine.

“I travel quite a bit, and every time I travel, I always go and find a USO,” Salazar said. There, he exchanges books and talks with fellow soldiers.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said it was equally important that millions of travelers would see the center — located in “prime real estate” that Sky Harbor donated to USO — as they passed through the airport. Home to Southwest Airlines and US Airways, Terminal 4 sees about 80 percent of the airport’s 45 million visitors each year.

“Imagine, a retailer would kill for this space, wouldn’t they?” said Stanton, as he motioned to escalators that run directly through the center. “For supporting our veterans ... we want to be the Number 1 city in this country.”

Sky Harbor’s old USO center in Terminal 2 will close by the end of the week. The new USO center will be open daily from 8a.m. to 8 p.m.