the USO

Most of us get frustrated when our Internet service goes down. 

Thanks to 3Di, troops were able to surf the Internet during their down time while deployed to New York City for Superstorm Sandy cleanup late last year. USO photo

But what if when you called your service provider – instead of putting you on hold for an hour to listen to elevator music – they made your broken connection such a high priority that the owner of the company dispatched a plane to fly a tech out to fix it that day.

It’s not make-believe. It’s 3Di Technologies.

The day before Thanksgiving, a satellite dish donated by 3Di to the USO for use during SuperStorm Sandy was inadvertently moved out of position, severing the Internet connection for deployed troops assisting with the cleanup. On a day most people were gathering with family, 3Di co-founder Don Baker wasn’t about to leave deployed troops in the dark.

As soon as he learned of the outage, Baker flew one of his techs from Baltimore to New York to fix the problem, re-connecting the dedicated satellite network in time for early-afternoon Thanksgiving chow.

“Serving the USO is a natural and truly effective way to provide comfort communication services to those who dedicate so much to our great country,” Baker wrote in an email. “We’re honored to do what we do, and we look forward to more opportunities to help the USO accomplish their mission.”

The 3Di team during a trip to Kuwait. Courtesy photo

Satellite communications are at the heart of the USO mission to lift the spirits of troops and their families every day at more than 160 locations worldwide. The dedicated satellite network provided by 3Di makes it possible for the USO to connect deployed troops with family and friends over a game of Call of Duty from trailer in the middle of Africa, and it’s what brings new fathers into the delivery room via Skype from a remote center in Afghanistan.

3Di Technologies – a subsidiary of L3 Communications – helped the USO connect 3.1 million calls in 2012. That’s nearly 28 million minutes of goochie-goos and I love yous that military parents and spouses would have otherwise gone without.

After working for more than 10 years installing communications solutions in harsh, remote locations overseas, operating partners Dan Throop and Don Baker teamed with a financial backer to create 3Di Technologies. Their company aims to deliver end-to-end satellite communications, equipment, integration and – most importantly – field support, to their growing number of customers.

Their partnership with the USO began by supporting the USO-in-a-Box field canteen trailer program, and continues today with the coordination of connectivity at 14 centers in Kuwait and Afghanistan.

“USO-In-A-Box wouldn’t have existed over the past year without 3Di Technologies’ charitably donated bandwidth support,” USO-In-A-Box Program Manager Juston Reynolds said.

“Wherever those USO trailers went, no matter how far out into nowhere they were dragged, or what conditions they were under, they always had connectivity,” Reynolds said. “3Di came through when the USO needed them most, and I think that’s really what made them stand apart from their competition — their determination to get it right.”

In their own view, being passionate about the customer and working in the field to customize communications solutions that perfectly fit the customer’s needs is part of the fabric of the organization.

“The motto at 3Di has always been ‘passion for the customers,’” 3Di Technologies Director of Business Development Ray Fuller said. “That’s because most of our customers are guys on the front lines, and whether they are calling for fire support or calling their wife and kids from a USO, our mission is to make that connection happen.”

For the USO, it was clear 3Di understood the significance associated with connecting deployed troops with their loved ones at home via email, voice, video and gaming.

“Connectivity always rates at the top of troop needs in the field,” USO Director of Operations Kristen Baxter said. “What 3Di brings to us is a dedicated satellite network we can use to connect our troops directly to their families without hassle. Ten-digit calling — just like here in the states.”

–Story by Joseph Andrew Lee, USO Staff Writer