Marines, USO are Bursting with Excitement for New USO Center at Camp Lejeune

With over 270 centers world-wide, service members and their families refer to their local USO centers to be their “home away from home,” or “home living room,” turning to the USO first for support and connection to home and to each other throughout the duration of their service.

Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune and USO North Carolina leadership, accompanied by USO NC Advisory Board members toured the current site of what will become the USO’s newest center location, permanently located at MCB Camp Lejeune, N.C., Feb. 23, 2023.

Colonel Eric Adams, Chief of Staff of Marine Corps Installations East-MCB Camp Lejeune, N.C., welcomed the visiting USO staff and Advisory Board, and provided a command brief describing the overall mission of the installation, and the 18 tenant Marine Corps and Navy commands that call Camp Lejeune home.

“The Marines Corps and the USO have a long-standing relationship in caring for our Marines, sailors and their families at home and abroad,” said Adams. "Adding a permanent USO center aboard Camp Lejeune will boost morale for our young troops, while providing invaluable programs and services for our military families living on Camp Lejeune and within the surrounding communities.”

Since 1942, USO volunteers and staff in the Jacksonville, N.C., area have proudly connected service members to family, home and country, from a center previously located in the Jacksonville community. Now USO staff, volunteers and board members are excited to continue providing support from a dedicated USO center located on Camp Lejeune.

“The USO is grateful for the tremendous support and coordination we have received from the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune military leadership in establishing a USO center on Camp Lejeune,” said Kelli Willoughby, Executive Director, USO North Carolina. “USO centers are the cornerstone of USO service delivery, and we are excited to provide high quality, generationally relevant programs and services to the over 108,000 service members and their families who call Camp Lejeune and surrounding Marine Corps air stations home.”

The establishment of the new USO Center on Camp Lejeune was carefully coordinated between Camp Lejeune leadership, the USO and Headquarters Marine Corps to provide programs and services to over 77,547 active duty service members and their families who call Camp Lejeune home. In addition to providing support to Camp Lejeune, the USO center also provides support to Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River and MCAS Cherry Point, which combined have roughly 30,770 service members and military families who call their respective air station home.

The USO serves as a beacon of support for various military installations across the globe, to include Camp Lejeune whose young Marines receive support from the USO as they conduct initial training at the Marine Corps School of Infantry East at Camp Geiger, aboard MCAS New River each year. Most recently, over 1,000 junior Marines conducting initial infantry training at Camp Geiger enjoyed watching the Super Bowl on the big screen in the Infantry Training Battalion’s main classroom, while enjoying festive games, snacks and refreshments provide by the USO NC Coastal team.

The current USO center will undergo additional renovations over the next several months, and once complete, will serve as a community center where service members and their families can go for special programs, and where troops may spend their off-duty time to email home or to be with friends.

"I cannot think of anything more important for the USO then having accessible USO centers for our Marines and their families, especially here at Camp Lejeune and the surrounding area,” said Linnea Gavrilis, Chair of the USO NC Advisory Board.

The new center will provide a home away from home, offering a warm, welcoming lounge; internet connectivity for guests; drinks and snacks; and various forms of entertainment such as board games, video games, TV, books, etc. This USO center will also deliver additional programming during special observances and holidays throughout the year.

This USO center will also deliver additional programming during special observances and holidays throughout the year, including an additional USO Gaming Center at Camp Lejeune that is currently in the planning process.