Hazel Stevens took some time to travel, after retirement. She spent time with her family. Then she got real and decided she needed to do something that helped service members during stressful times. For the past 17 years, Stevens has volunteered with the USO at Joint Base Andrews.
Before the USO lounge opened at JBA in March 2010, the United Service Organization offered minimal services at a desk inside the passenger terminal. The lounge has proved popular with Airmen and their families who need a place to take a break while waiting for their next flight or for a ride to their ultimate destination. Anyone with a military ID can take advantage of the USO lounge.
“People come in and they want a little refreshment, or they call and we tell them what’s going on (in the Washington, D.C. area’s entertainment scene),” said Stevens. “Occasionally we get free tickets from our headquarters at Fort. Myer.”
Many Airmen and their families hang out in the lounge, or in an Air Force-sponsored children’s lounge at the other end of the terminal, hoping to catch a Space Available flight. Stevens said that most aircraft flying in and out of JBA’s terminal are small craft, with as few as seven total seats, so the wait for those Space Available flights can be a long oneespecially for families with children.
Open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, the USO lounge is staffed entirely by volunteers, offering snacks, drinks, Internet access, a comfy chair and a friendly face. There is no charge for any USO services at Andrews, although donations are accepted. Those donations are routed back through the larger USO lounge based at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, which delivers supplies such as snacks, coffee and tea makings and bottled water to JBA’s lounge several times each week.
Approximately 30 people volunteer at JBA’s USO lounge, most for just one four-hour shift per month.
“We’re always glad to have volunteers,” Stevens said.
In between handing out bus schedules and helping new arrivals get their bearings, “there’s always something going on,” Stevens said. “They can sit here and watch Air Force One. I don’t think any other USO has the show we have here. You can just sit and watch it all go on.”
The lounge overlooks Air Force One’s flight line, so when Presidents fly, USO visitors and volunteers can catch a glimpse. Stevens has shaken hands with every president in office since she started with the USO 17 years ago. She has also met entertainers stopping here on USO tours. A British native, she even met former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair, although most foreign dignitaries go to their own distinguished visitors’ lounge since 9/11.
For information on the USO and to volunteer, call 301-981-4686.