From Bank To USO: Welcome to Pearl Harbor-Hickam's Newest Gathering Place

If you had walked into this building just a few months ago, you would have found a bank full of 1990s-style cubicles, file cabinets, and fluorescent lighting.

Today, you will find something entirely different. Service members and military families can grab a cup of coffee, recharge during their duty day, unwind after a long day, spend time together, or simply feel at home in a warm and welcoming center made for them at the new USO Pearl Harbor-Hickam center.

Turning a former bank into a welcoming USO center wasn’t exactly a small task. The project came together on an ambitious timeline and wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of so many people. So how long does it take to open a USO center? Usually about a year—and often longer. There are approvals, planning meetings, funding, design work, construction, and a hundred moving pieces behind the scenes. It’s not unusual for a new center to take 12 to 18 months from concept to opening. Our story was just a little bit different…

In January 2026, Base Commander Capt. Samuel ‘Smokey’ White identified a space for our new center, while at the same time announcing his retirement for mid-year. Smokey’s goal was to have the USO in this space before he retired. What happened next can only be described as a fever dream filled with emails, phone calls, meetings, measurements, site visits, and enough paperwork to fill the building all over again. Things started moving very fast, and we were along for the ride with Smokey’s dedicated team of professionals leading the way forward.

On June 1, we got a call. “Can you pick up the keys today?” We met with our amazing partners at the base real estate department, who handed us a ring full of keys and walked us through the space. It was ours, we were in. But that was only the beginning. There were cubicles and file cabinets as far as the eye could see. We made some calls, we sent pictures to volunteers, and we Got. To. Work.

On one side of a room, cubicles were being demolished. On another, cabinets were being stacked and sorted. A staff member was singing from inside a vault while wiping down shelving. Members of a nearby unit saw us putting in the work and offered to beautify the landscaping! A community was slowly forming. In no time, we had so many people stopping by with their tools and experience with electrical work, plumbing, cleaning, and lifting. It was a sight to be seen.

Then, the day came. June 26. On a Friday before our nation’s 250th birthday, during the start of the largest maritime exercise in the world, we absolutely had to open our doors! We all put on our fancy clothes and nice shoes, we brushed our hair, pictures were hung, dust bunnies were nowhere to be found. Where there was once a teller’s counter is now an inviting snack bar, and a pool table fills the room that once held finance and investment conferences. USO Indo-Pacific Region’s Vice President Scott Maskery flew in from Okinawa, Japan a couple of days earlier than the ribbon-cutting and walked through the doors, and said/inquired “Wow, this was a bank?”

It was.

Kahu Kordell Kekoa, a Hawaiian Cultural Practitioner, held a traditional Hawaiian oli and blessing for a ribbon cutting ceremony. As the Kahu blessed the maile lei with water, a gentle breeze carried it through the air. It felt like the island itself was celebrating with us.

After just 26 days, USO Pearl Harbor-Hickam opened. Cheers rang out, and we carefully ushered everyone in to see our hard work. Almost every person who stepped through the doors had the same first reaction: “Wow,” and excited smiles at all of the possibilities for connection, relaxation, and comfort. The people standing quietly in the back of the room weren’t guests. They were the volunteers, unit members, and partners who had spent their off-duty hours laying tile, pulling weeds, hauling furniture, and (seriously) mopping walls. Watching visitors walk through the doors with smiles on their faces made every late night and sore muscle worth it. Many of our dedicated patrons from Fort Shafter came to celebrate our new location opening with us and are a part of the new community here!

While we continue working toward full operational capacity, we’re elated to finally open our doors and begin serving service members and their families.

The center is currently open Monday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. as we continue training volunteers, expanding operations, and completing the final enhancements to the space. We anticipate being fully operational by the end of August and look forward to serving the community with expanded hours and services.

Whether you’re stationed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam or visiting the island, or simply looking for a place to recharge, we hope you’ll stop by. We built this center for you, and we’re excited to welcome you through our doors.

We can’t wait to see you soon.