From Travis Burgin at USO

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ARLINGTON, Va. - The USO announced an aggressive effort to expand its fundraising partners who sell products through the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) today. Under this new relationship, the USO, DeCA and the agency's vendors will be able to participate in a broader range of promotions to benefit the troops and their families through the USO.

"For the past 13 years the USO had an outstanding promotional relationship with an individual broker on a number of promotions," said Sloan Gibson, president and CEO of the USO. "USO programs and commissary shoppers benefited greatly from these promotions, but participation was limited to the companies affiliated with that broker.

"In order to respond to requests from a number of other DeCA partners, we decided to expand our role with the commissaries."

The USO has been lifting the spirits of the U.S. military and their families since 1941. In the past year, programs have expanded dramatically to better serve their needs and the needs of wounded warriors.

"We have opened additional centers in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Gibson. "And, we are expanding support for troops at the tip of the spear, their families and wounded warriors. This increase effort required more support and creates more opportunities for our partners."

New USO locations in Iraq and Afghanistan were augmented this year by programs that deliver USO services to remote forward operating bases. The USO placed 3 USOs in a Box at remote forward operating bases this year. These transportable, expandable units contain laptop computers, electronic games and a projector so troops at these bases can enjoy USO services in the most remote areas of the world. They also enable troops to use the Internet and call home via satellite connectivity.

"We are looking forward to many great promotions with DeCA," the USO chief added. "Shoppers participating in our promotions benefit two ways - they help the USO mission whenever they take advantage of USO-DeCA promotions; and they save money at the same time. Everyone wins."

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