Cheerleaders touch down in Bastion 31.10.11
17Emergency crews pride themselves on being ready for anything. But even the duty watch at Bastion Airfield fire station were taken aback when surprise visitors dropped in. A US Marines helicopter touched down next door to deliver four American football cheerleaders clad in tight white hot pants and matching knee boots. The pompom twirlers with the Washington Redskins were on a flying visit as part of a five-day tour of Helmand to show their club's support for coalition troops. Amanda -- they are not allowed to give their surnames -- told me they hoped to boost morale and find out first hand about life in the battle zone. "We're excited to take stories back to the States. We only know what we see on tv. That, and what people who've been fortunate to be over here and brought back to us." "So we're just excited to bring our stories back to everyone and tell it first hand what these guys and girls are going through." Not that there was much opportunity to discuss the finer points of emergency rescue technique. The RAF fire fighters scrambled for their cameras and queued up to have their pictures taken with Amanda and her colleagues, Tena, Kirstin and Britni. "Morale's gone through the roof, absolutely through the roof," enthused SAC James Miles. "It breaks up everything out here. It's a break from the norm to do something different. All in all, a good day." But what about wives and girlfriends at home when they saw all those pictures of their men arm-in-arm with skimpily clad beauties? "Not too sure yet," he laughed. "I'll tell you in about a month's time".