January 28, 2010

Nevada Senator Harry Reid and USO President and CEO Sloan Gibson discuss their effort to bring a USO lounge to McCarran Airport.

Washington, DC – Nevada Senator Harry Reid met today with USO President and Chief Executive Officer Sloan Gibson to announce that their partnership will result in a new USO lounge at McCarran International Airport.

“Nevada is one of the busiest places in the country with military and is home to installations such as Creech Air Force Base, Nellis Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Fallon. The nexus of all these people coming and going, to and from Nevada, is McCarran Airport almost all the time. I think it is not fair to these people in uniform that they have no place to go while they have a layover in Las Vegas,” Reid said. “This has been going on for a long time and I’m really so impressed with the leadership of USO. They have joined with us in saying they’re going to move forward on it and I’m happy to move forward on it. I’m locked arm-in-arm with the USO to have this establishment in Las Vegas.”

“The USO is delighted to have the opportunity to go to Las Vegas, to McCarran Airport, to be there to support our troops and our families. It’s part of the ongoing mission that we have supporting troops and families around the world. We have wanted to be at McCarran for a long time,” said Sloan Gibson, President and CEO of the USO. “I’ve been at the USO for about a year and a half and in that time we’ve opened USO’s at Fort Carson, Fort Hood, in Afghanistan and Iraq, at Landstuhl where wounded warriors go, and at Dover where our families of the fallen come to see their men and women come home. We’re delighted we’re at the point now where we’re able to come to McCarran and be there for troops and families.”