Soldiers help USO with needed labor

FORT DRUM — Up to 400 10th Mountain Division soldiers use the United Service Organization’s facility on post on a daily basis, so keeping up its maintenance can be a daunting task for its two paid employees and 30 volunteers who work only when it’s open. Replacing old furniture and assembling more than 20 sectional and gaming chairs make the task tougher.

But a month ago, a dozen members of the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment began volunteering during off hours on Mondays to help the organization catch up on needed work that would be too much for the small staff, USO Fort Drum Director Karen M. Clark said.

“It would be insurmountable,” she said. “We were actually falling behind on our cleaning.”

The relationship began in June, when Mrs. Clark asked the unit for use of its floor buffer, which meant she also needed a soldier who could use it. The request received a bigger response than Mrs. Clark anticipated. A dozen soldiers volunteered to help move and assemble furniture and do some deep cleaning.

But it wasn’t a one-day event.

“They said they’d come back the next week and I just about fell over,” she said.

The organization has chapters worldwide that provide soldiers entertainment, recreation and ways to communicate with family back home. At Fort Drum, soldiers often go to eat snacks provided by local vendors, use the Internet and even play video games against their fellow soldiers in Afghanistan.

Sgt. Jeffery W. Raby has used the organization’s services and was glad to help out.

“They’ve been doing a lot for many years,” the team leader said. “They adopted us and we adopted them.”

Battalion commander Lt. Col. Robert M. Ryan sees volunteering as a way for young soldiers to develop themselves and, while he said it’s common to see Army spouses volunteer, he hopes to see more soldiers volunteer in the community.

Helping out the USO, he said, is a good place to start.

“It’s America’s Army. I’m in America’s Army. The USO supports the Army. What are we doing to support the USO?” he said. “So, it’s an investment in a service that supports my soldiers.”

The help was a role reversal for Mrs. Clark.

“It’s so rare to find a unit willing to give back to us,” she said, adding that they were having fun. “These guys come over and they’re laughing.”

She’s always looking for volunteers, and because the soldiers will be training for a deployment soon, she said, she would like to see more units help out — a message well received by Sgt. Raby.

“They say that they never have enough help, so the more the merrier,” he said.