Another good day as a volunteer

I've settled into a routine as a volunteer at the Military Welcome Center at Will Rogers World Airport here in Oklahoma City. I go in each Wednesday morning and open up and get things ready for the day. The center, operated by the YMCA, is located on the lowerl, baggage claim level, in a back corner. It is not the easiest place to find in the airport. Also, there is only one small sign, again on the lower level, directing people to the place. During each shift one of us volunteers will periodically make a trip around the terminal looking for military people that are arriving or are waiting between flights so we can direct them to the center. I refer to this as trolling for troops.

Originally the center only operated from 3:00 to 11:00pm, Monday through Friday, due to a lack of volunteers to staff it. Due to a front page story about the center in the local newspaper, a couple of months ago, the number of people who have showed up to volunteer we now enough people to have it open from 9:00am to 11:00pm. Also, if we know there is a need, like a particular unit coming in, the center can be opened on Saturday.

The majority of the guys coming through the center are new Army recruits on their way to Fort Sill, in southwest Oklahoma, for basic training. Tuesday and Wednesday are the major days of the week for the recruiting centers around the country to send people down. We have chartered buses to take them the 82 miles to Fort Sill. We have buses running each evening at 6:30, 8:30 and 10:30pm. Since people are coming in from the planes all day long they needed a place to relax until their bus left. This is where our center comes in. It is well equiped with comfortable furniture, a large screen TV, two computer terminals for their use, a fully stocked cold drink box, snacks, games, books and magazines, and fresh coffee.

Although the numbers of people coming through on Monday, Thursday and Friday are small, it is not unusual to have between 200 and 300 coming through on Tuesday and Wednesday. Today we had a projected number of 291 scheduled to use our services while waiting for the bus. We had one man waiting when I arrived at 8:30am. He had come in last night after the last bus had run. When this happens the recruits are put up in a local hotel for the night. This guy was originally from Russia and spoke very little English. Apparently he was recruited specifically because of his ability to speak Russian. By the time my shift was up at 3:00pm we had a dozen or so guys using the center. Around 4:30pm the volunteers would be ordering pizza from the local Domino's so the guys will have a good meal before heading down to basic training and Army food.

The Will Rogers World Airport has served Oklahoma City for many years. The current terminal was first opened in 1967. Over the years it has been enlarged and remodeled many times. It has just had a complete rebuild and is a really nice facility. Some art work has been added to dress it up. In the front drive is a great new statue of the namesake, Will Rogers.