USO opens Albert J. Ellis Airport location

As Marines arrive by air in Jacksonville, the friendly faces at the USO are there to greet them. 

The USO of North Carolina at the Albert J. Ellis Airport (OAJ) opened Monday. 

“When they opened at 8a.m., there were 10 Marines already in,” said Deb Fisher, director of the USO’s Jacksonville Center and the new location in the airport. 

New Marines came through the airport from boot camp on the west coast Tuesday, she said, many of them flying for the first time. It’s important for them to have a USO in the airport so they feel welcomed and have a place to relax. It will also give volunteers the opportunity to inform the newcomers of programs and resources available to them, Fisher said. 

“We’ll be able to direct them to the USO in Jacksonville,” she said, where the Marines will be able to relax, shower, have their uniforms ironed and get “squared away” before reporting to their MOS School, where they receive job training. 

Many of the young Marines will be in school throughout the holidays and away from their families for the first time. The USO provides home-cooked meals for military members on Thanksgiving and Christmas in addition to holding other military-friendly events. 

The new 475-square-foot USO center at the airport features a television, computers and comfortable lounge chairs as well as snacks and drinks. The troops can even take naps there, Fisher said. 

“It gives them a nice, comfortable place to go,” she said. 

Chris White, airport director at Albert J. Ellis Airport, said a high percentage of travelers who come through OAJ are connected to the military, White said. The new USO is a way to provide an extra level of service to those customers and a way to thank them for their military service, he said. 

Andrew Barnett, 25, said he thinks the USO is a wonderful addition to the airport.  

“It makes travel so much better and easier,” the Marine sergeant said, “especially for the new guys that we get.” 

Fisher and White both said that they’re excited about the USO being at OAJ. The center is located on the first floor of the new terminal by baggage claim. 

It is currently open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily; however, the hours may expand as necessary. 

The USO isn’t the only new improvement at OAJ. The new terminal opened in August, and White said that the landscape of the area looks different every day as old buildings continue to be demolished. A new restaurant is still planned for the airport as well as improved cellphone reception, improved parking facilities and a new air-traffic control tower. 

“We have features you find in large airports, but still have that small airport feel,” White said.