The USO is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the troops by providing welfare and recreation-type services to our men and women in uniform. At Port Columbus the USO offers a lounge area for new military recruits on the move. Local USO volunteers can most often be found working with area recruiting offices to greet new recruits and their families at the airport. Located on the ticketing level near the Concourse C checkpoint, the lounge is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and provides snacks, books, games, telephone services and cable tv.

Family members of arriving or departing military recruits and/or active U.S. service personnel may request a "gate pass" for access to the gate areas to await their arrival/departure. These passes are issued by the applicable airlines.

• Gate passes are restricted to families whose military members are being deployed to active duty or whose family members are arriving home from active military duty.
• Gate passes are issued to non-traveling family members by the applicable airline.
• Number of gate passes issued is at the sole discretion of the airline, but is usually limited to no more than two (2).
• Family members must show a valid ID, such as a driver's license, to the airline representative in order to obtain a "gate pass."
• Family members may request a "gate pass" at the airline ticket counter 60 minutes or more prior to the flight.
• The "gate pass" will then be presented to the TSA representative at the appropriate security checkpoint for screening and access to the gate. All family members will be screened by checkpoint security staff in the same manner as they would if they were traveling.

Visit www.uso.org to learn more about the organization and how you can help support our troops. 

Visit http://www.rickenbacker.org/about/military.asp to learn more about military units in Columbus.

Click the thumbnails below to view our USO Gallery!