USO - Key Persons

Allison Anderson

Job Titles:

Programs Manager, USO West Region

The namesake of our organization, Bob Hope was a legendary American entertainer, actor, showman, comedian and philanthropist. On May 6, 1941, he performed his first USO Show at March Field in Riverside, California, to do a radio show for the airmen stationed there. For nearly six decades, wherever Bob Hope went to entertain the troops, from the deserts of North Africa to Alaska to the jungles of Southeast Asia, he represented home. And, for an hour or so, troops were home with an old friend and comrade. His signature shows included Hollywood performers, comedians, singers, actors and actresses, and led the way for celebrities of every kind to commit to giving their time and talent to service men and women around the world. Hope entertained until December 1990, when he brought laughter and Christmas cheer to troops participating in Operation Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on his final USO tour. The media dubbed him "America's No. 1 Soldier in Greasepaint." To the GIs, he was "G.I. Bob" and their hero.

Bob Kurkjian

Job Titles:

President, USO West Region

Bob grew up in Orange County and graduated from USC from where he joined the staff of then newly-elected Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. He went on to earn a masters degree from USC's Marshall School of Business and moved to Washington, DC where he spent the next 12 years working in non-profit management and consulting prior to returning to Southern California. As a commander in the Navy Reserve, Bob has been a USO guest on three continents. He has been mobilized for service in Baghdad, Bahrain and afloat in the Somali Basin and Gulf of Aden. He graduated, with distinction, with a master's degree from the United States Naval War College. Since his arrival in 2012, Bob has led an unprecedented expansion of Bob Hope USO services and programs in Central and Southern California, leading to a doubling of the number of troops and families served. He is a licensed CPA and sits on the Board of Counselors for the USC MBA for Veterans program and the Board of Goodwill Orange County.