Our Mission
To strengthen the well-being of the people serving in America’s military and their families.
Since 1941, the USO has been the nation’s leading organization to serve the men and women in the U.S. military, and their families, throughout their time in uniform. From the moment they join, through their assignments and deployments, and as they transition back to their communities, the USO is always by their side.
Today’s USO continuously adapts to the needs of our men and women in uniform and their families, so they can focus on their very important mission. We operate USO centers at or near military installations across the United States and throughout the world, including in combat zones, and even un-staffed USO service sites in places too dangerous for anyone but combat troops to occupy.
USO airport centers throughout the country offer around-the clock hospitality for traveling service members and their families. Our trademark USO tours bring America and its celebrities to service members who are assigned far from home, to entertain them and convey the support of the nation. And our many specialized programs offer a continuum of support to service members throughout their journey of service, from the first time they don the uniform until the last time they take it off.
The USO is not part of the federal government. A congressionally chartered, private organization, the USO relies on the generosity of individuals, organizations and corporations to support its activities, and is powered by a family of volunteers to accomplish our mission of connection.
USO Intermountain provides a home away from home and a sense of community for active duty troops, National Guard personnel, Reservist, and their families based throughout Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. We offer morale-boosting and family-strengthening programs, deployment and re-deployment support to help our troops adjust to the duty ahead, resiliency training, discreet and compassionate support for Families of the Fallen, as well as passenger terminal assistance for troops and loved ones alike. Since 2010, USO Intermountain has served more than 300,000 troops and their families.
History
USO leaders announced plans in early 2010 to open a $1.5 million “hospitality center” at McCarran International Airport where members of the military can congregate, relax and rest. Months later USO Las Vegas was born with the opening of the USO Lounge in Terminal 1 on Veterans Day 2010.
The 2010 opening of the USO center at McCarran International Airport was the culmination of a decade of dreaming and planning, a partnership between businesses and veterans to make the travels of our military personnel easier and more enjoyable. The point in opening the 2,830-square-foot lounge wasn’t to merely do something for the tens of thousands of service members who come through McCarran every year, but to do something great, to provide them and their families with a rest stop that reflected this city’s commitment to first-class hospitality. Our first USO computers, TVs, DVDs, books, comfortable chairs, snacks and drinks and dedicated volunteers and staff.
All these efforts were validated when in 2013, 2014 and 2015, USO Las Vegas was named the USO’s Top Medium Size Center and in 2013 and 2014 named the Top USO Center Worldwide! These honors resulted from the center’s performance in an annual survey of troops and their spouses. On average, USO Las Vegas center had a 99 percent approval rating for friendliness, 97 percent for helpfulness, 93 percent for staff knowledge, 96 percent for rest and recreation, 86 percent for ability to socialize, 93 percent for food provided and 89 percent for quality of information provided.
This demonstrates exceptional dedication to the well-being of our military personnel. Certainly, the Las Vegas community is helping the USO fulfill our mission of “strengthening America’s service members by keeping them connected to family, home, and country throughout their service to the nation. The USO offers services and programs at more than 180 locations around the word.
In 2006, the City of Phoenix started the Military and Veteran’s Lounge in Terminal 2 of the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. After much solicitation by city leaders, the USO agreed to take the lounge over in 2010. In 2012, the City of Phoenix Aviation Department donated and worked to refit our current space in Terminal 4, with the Grand Opening in November 2012.
USO Arizona has continued to expand its reach and impact throughout the state. By establishing relationships with all five active-duty military bases, National Guard bases, and Reserve leadership groups, USO Arizona customizes its services to each population and the needs of our diverse military populations.
USO Arizona worked to provide morale-boosting and family-strengthening programs to Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen and their families throughout Arizona. With over 50,000 military members calling Arizona home, plus those traveling through our state, there is a constant need for USO Arizona’s support.
In 2024, USO Nevada merged with USO Utah and USO Arizona to create a new USO Intermountain Region. As we move forward, we are focused on providing more impactful and consistent USO Core Programs across our USO Intermountain region. We will be delivering, expanding, and adapting a wide range of morale-boosting and family-strengthening services to meet the needs of troops and their loved ones across all of Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. Together, as one USO community, we move forward determined to directly serve and impact every single service member and their loved ones.
Whether through our warrior care and morale boosting programs at Nellis and Creech Air Force Bases in Nevada and Hill AFB in Utah to family-strengthening military family programming across the seven military installations in Arizona the USO provided a ‘touch of home’ to 113,793 service members in 2022.
Behind the scenes, the USO is a family of volunteers, sustained by the charitable contributions of millions of generous Americans united in their commitment in supporting America’s service members by keeping them connected to the very things they’ve sworn to defend — family, home, and country.
So, join us! Sign up to volunteer at volunteers.USO.org, host a donation drive, sponsor a USO program, or organize a care package kit build. None of us is as smart as all of us. Be the force behind the force to have an even greater impact for our local military community!
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If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at Intermountain@uso.org