USO? What's That?

Our other presentation today was given by the Director of the USO in Korea and a Colonel in the U.S. military in Korea. Now if you're like how I was before today, you probably have no idea what the USO stands for or what it actually does. The USO is the United Service Organizations and, in short, they provide entertainment for the U.S. military and ways for them to feel welcome and connected to home when they are abroad and when they are returning home from their service abroad.

The presentation by the USO director, Tony Davis, focused on what the goal of the USO is, what the structure of the USO is and how it functions. As he described it to us, the USO is not funded by the military and obtains most of its labor through volunteers. Some examples of the work done by the USO include concerts and BBQS for the U.S. armed services while they are abroad and also "Welcome Home" signs in the airports when they return home.

Colonel Dantonio, who is in charge of the Civil services division of the U.S. army in South Korea, discussed the Good Neighbor Program, the relationship between the U.S. and South Korea, the very real threat of North Korea, the view of American soldiers in Korea and the effects and influences of the media on these views. His focal point was the Good Neighbors Program, which is a program that exists in the military to provide service to the community where the base is located and throughout the rest of the country. His other main point was about the importance of the U.S. military presence in South Korea, not only because of the threat of the  very young new leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un, but also because of its strategic importance in case of natural disasters, which we play a large part in helping during the relief effort after they take place.

After hearing from both of these individuals it got me thinking a lot about why relations are so complicated between the U.S. and South Korea. I think a lot of it has to do with the media since, after all, fear is what sells. Which is why we never hear anything in the news about the U.S. troops helping out local communities, but immediately hear about anything they do wrong. I think this gives people around the world an image of U.S. troops that is strictly negative and makes them believe that our armed service members do more harm than good all of the time. I think some of the creative ways that the USO has worked towards alleviating and improving these negative images is by helping the soldiers learn some of the culture of the country they are located, in this case South Korea, by helping the local citizens understand some of our culture through home stays in which a citizen comes and stays on the U.S. army base to learn some of our culture and in exchange on of our soldiers gpes to the citizens home and learns some of their culture for a few days. Furthermore, I think their efforts at providing on-base, 24-hour entertainment for the soldier will help to prevent some of the soldiers, especially those with families, from going out to the city at night, getting drunk, and making a fool of themselves. Instead, they are able to stay on base and go have fun in a way that is family friendly.

As a take-away from what the USO had been doing, I think it could go a long way for me to try to learn more about the cultures of the countries I plan on visiting before I actually go there, as well as their language, so that I will not offend people there and also so that the local people do not see me as an ignorant american. Furthermore, I think this will help me to be more open-minded to trying new things and considering new perspectives while I am staying in whichever country I may be visiting at the time.