[caption id=“attachment_7621” align=“aligncenter” width=“500”] More than 3,600 cases of water were collected and donated to USO Fort Hood during AT&T Veterans’ Operation Hydration. USO Photo[/caption]

Those aren’t just pallets of water you’re looking at. Those bottles represent both sweet relief for soldiers at Fort Hood and a lot of hard work from a group of volunteers who want to help troops beat the oppressive Texas heat.

AT&T Veterans’ Operation Hydration resulted in a bottled water boon for USO Fort Hood. The campaign—which wrapped up recently—netted more than 3,600 cases of bottled water and $13,000 in donations to purchase extra H2O. The water will be distributed to troops around the base by USO Fort Hood staffers and volunteers.

“We are building a motorpool plan to do Monday stops with ice cold water for our Soldiers!” USO Fort Hood Center Director Robin Crouse wrote in an email last week.

Stephen Ollar of Student Veterans Association—which which helped collect donations for the campaign—said giving back to the USO was important to him.

“They were there to provide food, water, emotional support,” Ollar told KXAN-TV in Austin, Texas. “It’s a valuable service and it feels good. It’s important that I can give back to that service that I was able to take advantage of.” - Eric Brandner, ON★PATROL Senior Editor