HMS Queen Elizabeth Visits Sicily

Many people do not know that as the “Hub of the Med”, Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella supports U.S. ships visiting the port of Augusta, located some 45 minutes away from the NAS. After a long pause between ship visits, earlier this month a squadron of U.S. Marines deployed aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth pulled into Augusta for a visit of several days. USO Sigonella provided a warm welcome to the U.S. and NATO personnel, and thanks to the generous support from the Gary Sinise Foundation, provided expeditionary support to these troops, excited to be in Sicily after more than six weeks at sea. In addition to the warm welcome, useful info on the area, freebies, and goody bags inclusive of cold beverages, lunch, and snack items were given out to the service members to ensure comfort and nourishment throughout their long busy day. HMS Queen Elizabeth is the lead ship of the Queen Elizabeth class of aircraft carriers and the Fleet Flagship of the Royal Navy. Our team was incredibly proud to have been able to provide support and a touch of home to these hard-working troops.

The First Lieutenant Division of NAS Sigonella assisted USO Sigonella with transportation of the many items needed to properly greet a full ships company and their help was invaluable. The USO is also grateful to the Gary Sinise Foundation for supporting this expeditionary mission and assisting us in providing more goodness for our Armed Forces than would have otherwise been possible. If you know of or are part of a Unit that requires USO expeditionary support, please contact your local USO or email our Expeditionary Manager at kculhane@uso.org.