Week 4's Military Hero of the Week, Navy Commander Bob Kurkjian is not only a current Navy reservist but as a civilian, he serves as the Executive Director of Bob Hope USO, the 76 year old military charity organization that provides morale and welfare services and programs to troops and their families throughout the region. At LAX, he is leading a $5 million project to relocate the USO center there, which last year hosted just under 100,000 service members and military dependent families.
In the Navy, he is the Executive Officer for the Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor reserve unit. In his 15 years of service, he has completed deployments to Iraq, Bahrain and at sea. At home, Commander Kurkjian has served with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 23, Navy Cargo Handling Battalion 14, the Joint Staff, THIRD Fleet and Naval Sea Systems Command. He is proud to be a second generation Navy officer - his father, also a Navy Commander, served during the Cold War and Vietnam era.
In addition to two degrees from USC, Commander Kurkjian graduated, with distinction, from the United States Naval War College. He sits on the Board of Counselors for the Masters of Business for Veterans program at USC and is a board member of Goodwill Orange County.
