Hoo-ah: Kid Rock ROCK the Troops in the 'Stan'

A Hoo-ah to Kid Rock for performing
for the troops in Afghanistan during the
2008 USO Holiday Tour !

Grammy award-winning musician Kid Rock, American Idol contestant and country musician Kellie Pickler, and musician Zack Brown entertain troops stationed at Kandahar, Afghanistan, Dec. 17, during the 2008 USO Holiday Tour.

Kid Rock worked his appreciation for the servicemembers into a blues song. He told them, "As long as you are out here, you can count on me to keep coming back."

The venue's not fancy, but the audience is appreciative, This year's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff USO Holiday Tour has played at an aircraft hangar in Germany, in a maintenance facility and in an in-processing facility here in Afghanistan.

The tour's stars -- Kid Rock, Kellie Pickler, Lewis Black, Tichina Arnold, Zac Brown, Kathleen Madigan and John Bowman -- have played far more prestigious venues, but probably none as appreciative. And their usual audiences generally don't get this warning:

"In case of a rocket attack, let's do what we always do hit the ground and count to 100," Army Brig. Gen. John Nicholson, deputy commanding general for stability at Regional Command South, told the audience here. "If it continues, the performers will leave, and you will leave to take shelter. But when the all-clear sounds, they will come back and you will come back, and they'll pick up where they left off."

The performers rocked at every show. U.S. troops and their allies got world-class entertainment under challenging conditions. Joint Chiefs Chairman Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said the performers are national treasures who came for the purpose of saying thanks to the servicemembers, and giving them a little touch of America.