20 Years of the USO at ONT: The Story Behind the Service

After 17 years of volunteering with the USO at ONT, one feature Peggy Nelson still enjoys showing service members visiting for the first time is that they don’t need to put money in the vending machines scattered around the center. Just press a button and — thanks to the generosity of sponsors and donors who support the nonprofit organization — the cold soda of their choice will drop down, ready to be popped open in a nearby recliner chair or beside the center’s pool table.

Nelson remembers teaching this trick to one service member shortly after she started volunteering. He excitedly pressed the Mountain Dew button, and two cans fell out.

“He dropped on his knees and hugged the machine,” Nelson recalled with a laugh.

The moment stayed with her — not because that young man got a bonus can of soda, but because it captured what the USO at ONT has offered service members for two decades: small comforts and unexpected kindness when they need it the most.

For 20 years, service members and their families have found warm meals, a safe place to wait and a welcoming face at the USO center. This month, the center celebrates its anniversary, marking two decades of service to the Inland Empire’s military community.

“Twenty years is an absolutely incredible milestone,” ONT CEO Atif Elkadi said during a recent ceremony celebrating the center. But what makes the anniversary truly special isn’t the number of years, he said. “It’s the countless lives that have been touched. The families who have found comfort and the service members who have found a little piece of home right here at ONT.”

*Born From a Need Close to Home *

The USO at ONT started with a simple idea: Active-duty military members traveling through Southern California deserved a place designed for them. At the time, there was a USO at LAX and a much smaller location at John Wayne Airport, but nothing positioned to serve troops traveling between the region’s many military installations.

“There are USOs in many airports. And so, of course, we wanted to fulfill that need for service members from the local bases traveling to and from different locations throughout the U.S.,” said Brandi Elias, USO Inland Empire Area Operations Manager.

What began at ONT has grown into a regional program covering approximately 27,000 square miles of the Inland Empire and high desert, with smaller sites at March Air Reserve Base and Fort Irwin. But the ONT site remains one of the USO’s largest in the nation, with 21,879 people coming through the center last year through commercial and chartered military flights — nearly twice the number of service members served the year before.

The number of visitors can vary greatly depending on world events, emergencies and troop movements. Some years, like this one, are shaped by overseas conflicts. Some bring an influx of National Guard members responding to wildfires. And every summer, thousands of Marines pass through Ontario on their way to and from training.

The USO at ONT has a feature that makes it especially useful during large troop movements. Military charter flights can land directly outside the center’s gate, allowing service members to move directly into the facility with their bags and equipment.

Through it all, the need for a welcoming place at the airport remains.

*What the Center Looks Like Inside *

The USO at ONT is similar to an airline lounge, but access is based on military service rather than membership fees. Families with military identification can also wait at the center while meeting or seeing off a service member.

Before visitors enter the center, they’re greeted with a flagpole waving the American and POW/MIA flags. Getting the flagpole installed was one of the first projects Air Force veteran Chris Branam took on when he started volunteering for the USO at ONT shortly after it opened in October 2006.

Once visitors step inside the center, they’ll see another one of Branam’s additions: A 6-foot-tall Statue of Liberty holding a light-up globe showing the USO’s logo.

Branam said the statue is from a Red Robin restaurant in San Dimas, where Lady Liberty was holding a double burger on a platter. She was destined for the trash during a renovation. But he knew the restaurant manager, so Branam asked if he could take the statue.

“Red Robin said all they wanted was their double burger back,” Branam recalled. “So I took that off and had the globe made and put on there.”

Now it sits at the USO’s entrance, welcoming everyone who comes through the doors.

Inside the center, there are two TV rooms with streaming movies and plenty of comfortable recliners waiting. There’s a library with computers, desks and books. There’s a game room with a pool table, air hockey, musical instruments and other games. There’s a patio, with a grill for cooking up the center’s trademark hot dogs, plus a mess hall to serve them up for free. There’s a sleeping room, with recliners that go all the way back, a kid’s bed for waiting families and lots of cubbies with clean blankets and pillows.

Sprinkled throughout are military displays, including patches from units that have come through and a map where service members can pin their hometowns.

“Thousands of troops come through here,” Branam said, “and we thoroughly enjoy serving them.”

*The People Who Keep It Running *

As a nonprofit, non-governmental organization, the Inland Empire USO relies on a small but mighty staff and a team of some 200 volunteers like Branam to provide that individual level of service to traveling military.

Airports can be intimidating, especially for young service members.

“Many are going to their first duty station,” Elias said. “Some have never traveled before.”

Volunteers help them read their orders, understand where they need to go and figure out the next step in their journey. They may help a traveler find the right bus, contact the right person or make arrangements to reach an installation such as Fort Irwin.

Elias herself started at the USO as a volunteer nine years ago, while her son, Petty Officer 2nd Class Duncan Elias, was at boot camp. He later served aboard the USS Stethem, including an 11-month deployment during the COVID-19 pandemic without a port call.

Through various centers, Elias said the USO supported her son with care packages, games and prizes — and supported the family members waiting for him at home. Volunteering and eventually working for the USO helps her “military mom heart” feel more connected to him and allows her to give back to the organization.

Nelson’s connection to military service is also personal. Her father was a co-pilot during World War II, and her brother served in the Army and was stationed in Germany. But she didn’t learn about the USO until a volunteer named Dale Smith came into her workplace in Upland wearing a USO shirt. She asked him about it, then Smith brought her an application. Seventeen years later, she’s still volunteering every Thursday evening from 6 to 10 p.m.

Some nights are quiet, Nelson said. Other nights, service members arrive waiting for rides, meeting family members or preparing to fly.

“They just like having a place to come and relax and sit for a while,” Nelson said.

Branam, who was stationed at March Air Reserve Base from 1971 to 1975, has spent the past 20 years helping shape the space and support the troops who pass through it. But his most memorable contribution may be measured in hot dogs.

While many USO centers are only able to offer packaged sandwiches and other cold food, the USO at ONT is known for its tradition of grilling up hot dogs for service members. Branam said his record is cooking 1,800 in a single day. During another large troop movement, the Ontario Fire Department brought in a barbecue trailer, and volunteers prepared some 4,000 hot dogs over a day and a half.

“They couldn’t believe how these guys could eat,” Branam said with a chuckle.

That’s why, when it comes to donations, Elias said: “The way we like to calculate things is by how many hot dogs we can buy.”

The center also offers a place to decompress during difficult moments. When service members experience distress in the terminal, the USO team may connect them with resources or simply stay with them and talk.

“It’s like all of us banding together to make that experience easier,” Elias said.

For some travelers, that support comes in the form of a dog.

Judy Hall regularly brings her 6-year-old Old English Sheepdog, Beazley, to the USO at ONT to spend time with service members. Hall said many of the people Beazley meets have left their own dogs behind during deployments.

One service member spent about 45 minutes with Beazley before being called to board his flight. Hall said Beazley’s role is simple: offer companionship to people who may be tired, stressed or missing their own pets.

“Dogs to so many people are home,” Elias said. “And that’s what the USO is about, is bringing that feeling of home to the service members.”

*Two Decades In — and Just Getting Started *

In early October, volunteers, USO staff, ONT staff and local leaders gathered at the USO at ONT to celebrate the center’s 20th anniversary with a brief ceremony and, of course, some grilled hot dogs.

“Over the past 20 years, we’ve seen a lot of changes,” Elias said during the ceremony. “This building certainly has had some facelifts. Our airport itself has continued to grow, and the military community that we serve has evolved quite a bit.

“But the one thing that has not changed,” she said, “is the need to support those who serve our country.”

To continue that support, along with providing space for the center, ONT donates proceeds from its annual 5K at the Runway event to the organization. Over its first four years, the award-winning community event has raised $168,771 for the USO at ONT. The fifth annual 5K at the Runway is coming February 6, 2027, with proceeds supporting the USO’s day-to-day operations — including buying lots of hot dogs.

The airport’s annual Multi Chamber Mixer event, which brings business leaders from across the region together each spring, also collects in-kind donations and Amazon Wish List items for the USO at ONT.

Looking to the next 20 years, discussions are underway to potentially include a new USO at ONT center in the new gateway terminal building planned with the ONT BOLD Program. That would make it even easier for service members to find support as they arrive, depart or wait between commercial flights. Building a new center from the ground up could also allow for even more amenities, such as showers for service members who might want to clean up before heading home after deployments.

But while the setting may change, the mission will remain the same: to welcome military travelers, meet their immediate needs and remind them that they are not alone.

Community members can help the USO at ONT continue its mission by volunteering, donating, contributing needed items through the organization’s Amazon wish list or registering for the annual 5K. Every meal, hot dog, conversation and welcoming smile begins with community support.