Stars in Bahrain

THE cast and crew members James Cameron, Jon Landau, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and John David Cameron from the film Avatar travelled to Bahrain to visit the US 5th Fleet.

They spent time meeting, greeting, signing autographs and having their photographs taken with several thousand service members, followed by a screening of the film on board the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, Naval Support Activity Bahrain, Shaikh Isa Air Base, USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) and Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, Africa.

"I was really moved by all of these sailors, marines and soldiers," said Golden Globe Award winner Sigourney Weaver who plays the role of Grace Augustine, a scientist who runs the Avatar program to enable humans to adapt to the planet Pandora.

"The experience was really amazing" said hot Hollywood tough girl Michelle Rodriguez who plays ex-marine helicopter pilot Tracey Cachon. "The people out here are fantastic and the flights on and off the ships were awesome."

The visit was organised by the Navy Entertainment and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) section.

After spending a day aboard the USS Eisenhower, during which the Avatar cast and crew signed autographs for seven hours, they returned to Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain and were greeted by commanding officer Rick Sadsad, executive officer Patrick Moran and Commander US Naval Forces Central Command, Vice Admiral Bill Gortney.

"It's really fantastic to be able to provide our service members an opportunity to interact with these well known Hollywood people," said Moran. "It definitely boosts morale and gives the service members great memories to take home."

The Avatar cast and crew next spent a day interacting with soldiers at Shaikh Isa Air Base followed by a day aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard, and ended their tour with a day at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti Africa.

"None of this would have been possible without the hard work of the folks at Navy Entertainment and MWR," said Sadsad.

Karen Fritz from Navy entertainment; Tom Linscott, Mike Jones, James Shipp, Joe Hernandez, Amanda Schwilch, and Hussain Alsaffar from MWR co-ordinated this visit.

"In the time I've been here, this has been the highlight of it all," said Joe Hernandez, MWR community programme director. "These actors and actresses really showed their appreciation for the military by being here and I really appreciate them for that."