image:15630:0::0
|
By Steve William Sanson
Nevada-Las Vegas: Mr. Lombardo explained that the USO wants to place a USO Lounge at Nellis Air force base instead of at McCarran. The reason the USO would be more beneficial at McCarran is due to the fact that civilians do not exist at Nellis Air fore base and the purpose of a USO is for the sanctuary of the military men and woman. Nellis is a secured military installation and McCarran is not. The USO Lounge would be better served at McCarran.
"The USO program also provides an extensive volunteer program. These programs provide a wealth of volunteer talent to the community, contributing directly to improved quality of life for many needy elderly citizens, promoting individual self-worth, enhancing a feeling of belonging, and building professional development."
I received an e-mail from Chuck Lombardo. Mr. Lombardo explained to me that all the hard work Chuck and his employers accomplished at McCarran Airport may go up in smoke.
Lombardo explained that the plan was to turn the old US Airways Lounge to the USO Lounge for our military personnel. The catch was that Randy Walker Director of Aviation would supply the old lounge with all the furniture and all amenities, over to the USO but it would cost 750K.
Jan Jones from Harrah's Entertainment was going to help support the finances and Lombardo had other sources that he could tap into to help with the financing. Randy Walker also gained the unanimous approval from the Clark County Board of County Commissions on February 9, 2006, to move forward with the USO Lounge project.
Lombardo stated that the financial sources wanted to give the money directly to the USO to get our military personnel the lounge at McCarran Airport. Lombardo sates that the USO is now backpedaling.
I contacted Randy Walkers office and his secretary transferred me to Chris Jones the airports Public Information Administrator on May 2nd, no response to date.
I placed a call to Jeff Hill the USO Vice President of Operations in Norfolk Virginia. Mr. Hill returned my call on May 3rd and had his Chief Operating Officer Keith Weaver contact me. Weaver stated to me that we have a Mobil USO satellite office stationed at Nellis Air force Base, I stated that the USO lounge needs to be at McCarran not Nellis.
Weaver stated that he is going to have his Vice President of Operations return back to Las Vegas and take another look at the numbers to decide how many service personnel use McCarran and compare those numbers to other parts of the world in deciding priority of a USO Lounge at McCarran.
Somebody help me to understand this: If McCarran and the Board of County Commissioners agreed to house a USO Lounge and private donors agreed to pay for this lounge why is it that the USO powers have to revisit in regard to how many military personnel use McCarran?
McCarran International Airport would be a perfect facility to house the USO Staging Area, military personnel pass through this airport all the time. Flights are increasing at McCarran with increased population and visitors. Sometimes a service member is in transit and going through McCarran for a connector flight. Sometime a service member leaves one destination and is in transit to another and the only time a family member could visit with a service member is when he/she is taken a connector flight and leaving the country.
Sometime connector flights could last hours and this would give a family member an opportunity to fly to McCarran and visit their service member at a USO Staging Area. A USO would be the perfect place before that long tour out of the country. Military personnel need an area that they can unwind, to make that last phone call to their family or just to clear their minds. Leaving on a long tour overseas away from their family takes a drastic mind change on a service member, you can image going to or coming back from war. A service member does not want to be bombarded by questions from strangers; they want to be left alone to unwind and to think about their loved ones.
I know this from first hand experience, I left the United States from my home town of New York City at the age of 18 and did a tour in Okinawa, Japan for 1 ½ years. I have left this country many times traveling to Egypt, Panama, and many other countries on simple Military Operations taking me away from my family months and years at a time. I Traveled to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm which was not easy. The last question I wanted to hear from any civilian on my return is "did you kill anybody." I know that would be the first question on the mind's that watch the news everyday and have no concept of war, but that is the last question any service member wants to hear coming back from a war torn country.
It is very important that we move forward on a USO Staging Area at McCarran Airport to give that service member unwinding time, without being questioned and having the space to gain a peace of mind.
E-mail:
SteveWSanson@cs.com phone 702 283 8088
Website:
www.VeteransInPolitics.com.
