USO JET team Surprises Sailors at Kiel Week with Father’s Day Messages

Among the many challenges service members face, the reality of missing out on special moments with family and loved ones remains a profound hardship. This year on Father’s Day, USO Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) had the opportunity and foresight to connect families at home with their sailors deployed at sea.

The USO is well-known for our Reading Program, in which deployed service members record themselves reading a bedtime story to their children and have that recording, along with the book, shipped home to their family. But did you know, the USO also carries out reverse-readings?

At the MWR Facility at NSA Gaeta, ten families gathered around to secretly record a special Father’s Day message to send their deployed sailor. With the help of the USO Naples team, each family carefully chose a book and joyfully read “I love you like no otter,” while sharing laughter and blowing kisses to their dad.

This opportunity was extremely meaningful to these families – who don’t get many chances to interact with their sailor while they are underway. “This Father’s Day Reading will mean so much to my husband. With countless special days apart, this is an opportunity for our children to feel connected with their dad,” commented military spouse and USS Mt. Whitney Ombudsman, Jessica Seal, who attended the event with her 3 children.

“Witnessing little ones coming into the USO with enthusiasm, eagerly reciting poems and reading to their dads, while capturing those precious moments as they blew kisses on video while expressing all their love, left me in awe,” said Area Operations Manager, Luisa Mazzella. “It was an experience that emphasized the profound impact these USO programs can have. These families sacrifice so much, and it fills me with immense gratitude to be part of the USO, contributing to initiatives that bring a touch of joy and radiance to the days of those we proudly serve.

Together, we created cherished memories that will truly last a lifetime.

KIEL WEEK 2023

Fast forward one week to Kiel Week in northern Germany—the largest sailing event in Europe and the next port stop for the USS Mount Whitney and USS Paul Ignatius.

Like superheroes flying through the night, our EMEA Joint Expeditionary Team (JET) mission focuses on bringing quality of life and a touch of home to service members while deployed in remote locations. Oscar Pullido and Konrad Braun, experienced USO staff and members of JET, arrived at Kiel Week in the EMEA Expeditionary Mobile Vehicle with USO care packages, wireless phone chargers, fresh German pastries and pretzels, and a surprise delivery of nearly one hundred McDonald’s cheeseburgers. With uplifting and energizing music in the background, they also hosted several games of Jenga through which sailors were able to win prizes such as battery packs, speakers, headphones, footballs, and soccer balls.

Oscar and Konrad set up a laptop inside both ships surrounded by colorful drawings and gift bags. Sailors hit play and were all smiles as they listened to their spouses and children read sweet stories to them. One message was especially meaningful for a proud father – it contained the gender reveal of his unborn child. (It’s a girl!) “Witnessing their expressions as they read or saw their Father’s Day wishes was incredibly touching for me,” said Oscar.

After the event, BN1 Omar, a sailor aboard the USS Mount Whitney, said “thank you so much for everything you have done, coming out to Kiel. Also, USO Naples, thank you for helping my wife and three kids send me a care package for Father’s Day—it means so much.

We’re at Kiel on Father’s Day away from our families, but you guys made it so much better.

“The nimbleness and reach of our relatively new JET teams allows the USO to deliver its mission to nearly any location at any time,” said Konrad, USO Area Director. “Our efforts over the recent Father’s Day weekend demonstrated that and we were able to deliver 50 videos and messages to unknowing fathers who were serving on board US Navy ships in northern Germany. As a father myself and missing my own opportunity to be with my family, I took comfort knowing that many more Navy fathers were positively impacted by our efforts on this very special Father’s Day JET mission.”

Not only did they support two ships during Kiel Week, Oscar and Konrad also traveled to Kropp, Germany and brought some fun to Air Defender 2023– the largest deployment exercise of air forces in NATO’s history. This exercise involves up to 10,000 exercise participants from 25 nations with 250 aircraft. The USO tent was set up in a field where participants could play Jenga, listen to music, pick up USO care packages and other nice gifts, or play a round of bingo to win a prize. Service members from different U.S. Air Force, Air National Guard, and U.S. Navy units joined in the fun and expressed their deep appreciation for what the USO does and their amazement at how mobile and present the USO has recently become. One ANG airman commented, “This is the perfect way to end our deployment for this exercise!”

In the unwavering commitment to support service members wherever they may be, the USO proves time and again that we go where they go. From heartfelt reverse-readings that bridge the gap between deployed sailors and their families, to the surprise care packages and memorable interactions at Kiel Week and Air Defender 2023– the USO’s JET teams embody a spirit of service and dedication. With each act of kindness, the USO brings a touch of home, joy, and connection to those who proudly serve, creating cherished memories that endure far beyond the mission’s end.