USO entertains troops on U.S. soil. (Washington Pulse).

For the first time in recent history, large numbers of U.S. active and reserve troops have been deployed to carry our operations in the Washington, D.C. area.

As a result, the United Service Organizations (USO) last November kicked off its first-ever celebrity entertainment tour in the continental United States, including the nation's capital.

USO is a 501c(3) charity organization that is chartered by Congress. According to Elaine Rogers, president of USO Metropolitan Washington, this past year has been particularly active. "Within an hour of the terrorist attack upon the Pentagon, USO-Metro was providing support services to military members," she said. "USO-Metro also realized that there would be a tremendous need for emergency housing for the extended families of those military members directly impacted by the incident. We immediately began the process of expanding our emergency housing program to support those families. USO-Metro provided over 2,100 hotel rooms free of charge to those in need."

In recent months, the pop band "Hootie and the Blowfish" performed in the first of two planned tours put on by the Washington and Philadelphia chapters of USO. The tour stopped at three locations: McGuire Air Force Base, N.J.; Fort Myer, Va., and the Quantico Marine Corps Base, also in Virginia.

"Hootie and the Blowfish" participated in the tour with corporate sponsorship by Lockheed Martin Corp.