The miniature movie theater inside the new USO center aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan is pictured on April 17, 2024. (Jennessa Davey/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Sailors aboard the USS Ronald Reagan gathered deep inside the aircraft carrier on Wednesday to celebrate the opening of the U.S. 7th Fleet’s first shipboard USO center.
Located in the Nancy Reagan Library and adjacent to the ship’s religious ministry department, the center features a lounge, video game center, internet cafe, an updated library and a miniature movie theater.
“What this is doing is increasing the sailor’s quality of life aboard the ship,” Scott Maskery, USO’s regional vice president for the Indo-Pacific, told Stars and Stripes before the ceremony. “This is something for the sailors, by the sailors, at the request of the U.S. Navy along with the USO.”
The USS Ronald Reagan's skipper, Capt. Daryle Cardone, and USO Regional Vice President Scott Maskery cut a ribbon to open a USO center aboard the aircraft carrier at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, April 17, 2024. (Jennessa Davey/Stars and Stripes)
The center features a distinct Southwestern theme, meant to emulate the style of Rancho del Cielo, Ronald Reagan’s ranch near Santa Barbara, Calif.
The library features cowboy hats, pottery and a bearskin rug. In the theater, posters of modern and classic western movies, such as “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and “Django Unchained,” adorn the walls.
Being able to socialize, read, enjoy movies or play video games in a “place that doesn’t look like the rest of the ship” is critical for sailors who might be at sea for months at a time, said the Ronald Reagan’s skipper, Capt. Daryle Cardone.
“I think it is crucial not only to our readiness, but to our health and wellness as people,” he said during the ceremony.
An open space aboard the carrier is also rare and a “real treat for sailors,” Ronald Reagan spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Phil Chitty told Stars and Stripes before the ceremony.
Renovations began in February for the center, said Marcie Smith West, senior regional operations manager for USO. The USO paid for the project, first proposed in summer 2023, primarily through project-specific donations, she told Stars and Stripes during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
USO officials at the ceremony said they did not have the cost of the renovations available Wednesday.
Entirely operated by volunteers, the center is expected to be open approximately 20 hours every day while the carrier is at sea to provide services for every shift, Chitty said.
While in port, the center will have limited hours, yet to be determined, he added.
This is the first USO center aboard a ship in the 7th Fleet, Chitty said. “It’s definitely a milestone.”
Petty Officer 2nd Class Mikayla Green, a religious program specialist aboard the Ronald Reagan, is one of the first to volunteer to staff the center, but she also plans to use the space herself, during her off time.
“There’s plenty of stuff to do here,” Green, of McKinney, Texas, said after the ceremony. “I don’t have a PlayStation or an Xbox, so I’ll definitely be using those.”
The USO has ship-based centers on three other carriers — USS George Washington, USS George H.W. Bush and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower — and one on the amphibious command ship USS Mount Whitney, Maskery said.
The center was opened just months before the Ronald Reagan’s expected relocation from Japan to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash.
However, the USO center aboard the George Washington, the Ronald Reagan’s replacement, will ensure a feeling of continuity for any sailors who transfer to the new carrier, Chitty said.
