USO New York MEPS Celebrates One Year

This month, USO New York is excited to celebrate the one-year anniversary of opening a USO Center at the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) on the Fort Hamilton Army base in Brooklyn, NY. Our Center is located on the first floor of the Fort Hamilton MEPS, which is the largest of the 68 MEPS in the country. This “Mega” MEPS draws from 20 local counties in New York and New Jersey and in 2022 saw 46,000 young men and women applicants who came to enlist in the military. Of those, 7000 completed their testing and shipped off to basic training to join one of the six branches of service.

At this USO MEPS Center, volunteers provide a brief introduction to applicants and shippers about the USO. From snacks and drinks to board games, applicants are able to take a break during their application process and get a small sample of what the USO will provide them throughout their military career, wherever they go, always by their side. Once the application process is complete, which can take days, the shippers take their Oath in the Lt. Michael P. Murphy, USN Oath Room, and line up to prepare to travel to the local New York airports. Before they leave, USO volunteers and staff provide a special gift bag to each shipper with travel essentials and information about the USO. Many of these new service members will be flying on airplane for the very first time in their life. The USO provides a warm welcome and encouragement at the very beginning of their military service.

USO New York has enjoyed being part of the MEPS process throughout 2022 and looks forward to welcoming and supporting the newest members of our Armed Forces in the year ahead.

For more information on New York MEPS, please click here.

Interested in volunteering? Visit volunteers.uso.org.

For questions on USO MEPS and our programs, please email nyprograms@uso.org.