Desiree's first entree into the music business was managing the nightclub Jabberwocky on Syracuse University's campus, 1978-79. From there she went into the not-for-profit record retail business ("a conundrum, I know"), running Spectrum Records from 1979-1984. "I would have live bands play in the record store on Friday afternoons and our 'midnight madness sales' were always a great success. I loved creating organized chaos. Spectrum called me back a couple of more times during some financial crisis in 1986 and again in 1989 to see if I could help turn sales around. Luckily for me, whatever I did seemed to work in the right direction."

After that stint, Desiree left to try her hand in the clothing business, and opened a small boutique-type shop, "Bennie & Beena," in the Armory Square section of downtown Syracuse. "My partner and I learned a lot about the business," Desiree says. "I also learned what I did not like about the business. Running a retail-clothing store with fashion a little too forward for the Syracuse market at that time was not going to happen. The business was such a different pace than what I was used to and I found selling music and being around music was much more fun."

Returning to her first love - music -Desiree became the music editor for the Syracuse New Times, an alternative weekly started in 1969 ("still alive and well") for a couple of years. From 1986-1996 she also was contributing editor for the paper.

Whatever Desiree found herself doing, she managed to fit live music somewhere into the equation. From 1994-96 she owned a small restaurant in Syracuse with her sister Deirdre called Witherspoons. "We always had live music even though you could barely swing a cat in the place. When the building was sold to a new developer they decided to do something else with the building."

After heading to New York City's Upper West Side to run a couple of restaurants, Desiree decided quickly she had made the wrong decision. As much as she loved the "big city" she realized quickly that she wasn't making nearly enough money to really live in the Big Apple like one should. So, she packed up and returned to the Syracuse area.

As luck would have it, Desiree got a call in February 1999 from a friend -- the entertainment director of USO Celebrity Entertainment in Washington, D.C. -- from Bahrain, asking her if she could come to D.C. to work with her on a freelance basis. Desiree naturally jumped at the chance and headed for Washington, working on any projects she was handed, from bookkeeping and filing to recruiting bands to go overseas to entertain the troops.

"I stayed in a freelance position at USO World Headquarters until December 1999," says Desiree. "They offered me a full-time position with the organization and I came on board officially January 2000."

How is the USO's entertainment department set up?
The entertainment department at the USO did not really have a recruitment department set up. They asked if I would write my own job description for the position and after making a few edits they put me to work. Shana Schwartzberg, who has been freelancing with the USO over the past few years, began to work alongside me in the recruiting department and helped get me up to speed on all the ins and outs of the military world. Shana has been my USO mentor as well. After having a baby last January, Shana continues to work with me on a part-time basis. Her knowledge and history of the USO has been indispensable to me. I could not have been here without her guidance.

Have you gone out with any tours?
I took out my first tour -- as the tour manager -- this past July. This was called a handshake tour -- meet 'n' greet with the troops -- signing autograph sheets and T-shirts for the troops.

The tour was called "Starflight over Southwest Asia July 1-7, 2001." We went to Dubai, UAE and Manama, Bahrain. We took out Melissa Joan Hart from "Sabrina-The Teenage Witch," Ron Lester from the movie Varsity Blues and the TV show "Popular," Bill Brochtrup from "NYPD Blue" and Jenna Von Oy who co-starred on the TV show "Blossom" and is currently in the sitcom "The Parkers."

We stopped at military bases and military activity centers. We were flown out by jet 120 miles into the middle of the Persian Gulf to the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Constellation and spent the day on the carrier shaking hands, eating with, signing autograph sheets, having pictures taken ... all with the troops. The carrier has 5,000 people on it, like a small city. We got tours of the ship as well. A wild experience, to say the least...and the whole time it was 120 degrees!

When music groups go on a USO tour, do they bring their own production?
When bands are involved they bring along their own equipment. We try to keep things scaled down because of all the travel and a lot of the venues in and on the military bases are not like domed stadiums and arenas like here in the States. Some of the places we go to we rig up or make the best of the situation. Some have stages or areas for the band. But remember, these are isolated and remote areas. Tonic was the first rock n' roll band to play in Kosovo last year.

At times we may get a call from an artist with a large production behind them. If this is the case we will try to set the tour up in and around bases with larger facilities. Some of the shows may be from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. Each tour takes on its own particular characteristics. We supply a tour manager and a production manager on every tour. Bands usually bring along their techies as well.

What would you like people to know about the USO?
The USO is still very alive and well. After celebrating 60 years of service last February, the USO continues a strong tradition of illustrious program delivery. Bringing entertainment to hundreds of bases throughout the world, the USO continues to bring a touch of home to our troops overseas.

Historically, few events have left a more lasting and positive impression on soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, Marines, and their families than USO Entertainment. The legacy reaches back to the days of Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe and Sammy Davis, Jr., and forward through recent tours including Salma Hayek, Christie Brinkley, Hootie & the Blowfish, Sheryl Crow, the Blues Travelers, The Robert Cray Band, Reba McEntire, Tonic, as well as many more.

Do you have any difficulty in recruiting talent to tour the armed forces overseas?
What makes it difficult is that we do not pay a talent fee. We deal with the management end for the most part. Obviously the agents don't want to talk to us. Our fee is about the same as when the USO tours first started. We pay $50a day honorarium. The USO does take care of all the transportation, lodging, and production costs of the tour. Our mission is to try to convince the entertainment field that a tour or a visit to our men and women who serve all of us, 365 days a year, is a worthwhile endeavor. The audience is one of the best in the world.

We first try to go to the most remote and isolated regions where they are stationed. There is not a nightclub for them to go to at the DMZ zone in Korea, or in the Balkans (Macedonia, Bosnia, Kosovo) or in and around the Persian Gulf - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and ships at sea. So when the USO delivers a show or a handshake that "touch of home" for the troops is a great experience. The entertainers always come away with a positive experience and always ask when can they go back out.

First industry job
I ran a club on the Syracuse University campus in the late '70s. Although Jabberwocky was located in the basement of a dining hall, with poor sight lines, and could hold only about 350 people when the fire marshals weren't looking, it had a wonderful roster of talent that flew in and out of the doors over from the late '60s through the mid '80s. Ry Cooder, Charlie Mingus, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Cyndi Lauper, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Weather Report, The Marsalis Family, Talking Heads, Chick Corea, Taj Mahal, and James Brown are just a few of the names that appeared on the small stage one evening or another.

Career highlight
I have been lucky because there have been so many. Being in the right place at the right time pretty well explains it

Career disappointment
Watching the music business get greedier and greedier over the years.

Greatest challenge
Almost all of the businesses I have been involved with over the years were in various stages of three alarm fires when I took over. Helping to turn all of them around has given me lots of satisfaction. -- Jabberwocky, Spectrum Records, the Zodiac Club, Phoebe's Garden Cafe, Witherspoons - all in Syracuse, N.Y.

Best business decision
Taking risks and opening my own businesses -- Bennie & Beena, a small clothing boutique and Witherspoons, a restaurant with live music.

Worst business decision
Thinking that Syracuse, N.Y. was as forward thinking as my ideas.

Best business advice
"To thine own self be true." I believe that if I am doing the right thing for the right reason, the rest will follow.

Most memorable concert or event
Co-producing Sun Ra at the Landmark Theater, Syracuse, N.Y., 1986 and being flown out to and spending the day on the USS Constellation in the middle of the Persian Gulf as tour manager for my first USO tour overseas this summer.

What would people be surprised to learn about you
That after working around people in and around the entertainment business for years, I still have a very shy side.

Office paraphernalia
A large wall map of the world, a frame with a picture of each of my four dogs, a stress toy in the shape of a cow, a signed photo of Mickey Rooney and his wife that they used for last year's Christmas card.

Industry pet peeve
Rude, rude, rude people. The entertainment industry seems to have it locked up on rudeness. It is not usually the ones on the top, i.e., managers, owners, CEOs, etc. It's the assistants who are the pains-in-the-butt. California and NYC have it locked up.

Desiree can be reached by phone at 202-610-6490 or by email at dday@uso.org.

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