The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders perform at John W. Collier Community Fitness Center at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Feb. 23, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders visited the largest U.S. base overseas Friday to give troops and their families a morale boost as part of a five-day, USO-sponsored tour of South Korea.
Eight members of the squad first arrived at Camp Walker in Daegu city Thursday before moving onto Camp Humphreys, Camp Bonifas and Camp Casey, both near the border with North Korea.
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders host youth cheer clinic at John W. Collier Fitness Center at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Feb. 23, 2024. (Christopher Green/Stars and Stripes)
The cheerleaders shared meals with soldiers, witnessed a reenlistment ceremony, performed cheer shows and hosted a youth cheer clinic with around 75 children at Humphreys.
Following the clinic at the John W. Collier Community Fitness Center, the cheerleaders put on a show for roughly 300 people. Clad in their iconic blue-and-white uniforms and accompanied by blaring rock music by AC/DC and Queen, they performed on a stage in front of the cheering crowd at the gym.
“We’ve got to meet a lot of amazing people and see what they do on a day-to-day basis,” Armani, a four-year Cowboys cheerleader, said at the gym Friday. “It’s just been a very cool opportunity to meet the military men and women and their families.”
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders perform at John W. Collier Community Fitness Center at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Feb. 23, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders sign autographs at John W. Collier Fitness Center at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Feb. 23, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)
Active cheerleaders in the National Football League routinely identify themselves only by their first name.
McKenzie, a cheerleader also in her fourth season, said this was her first trip to South Korea.
“Our games and appearances back in Texas are more centered around the Cowboys, whereas this is centered around thanking the service members for their service and just providing some smiles and a little piece of home,” she said.
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders organization has made 85 USO tours, 39 of them in South Korea. The group made its first trip to South Korea in 1979, according to Shelly Roper-McCaslin, the organization’s special events and recruiting leader.
The former Cowboys cheerleader said she noticed the consolidation of U.S. bases since she last performed in South Korea in the early 1990s.
“The number of installations has decreased,” she said. “But what hasn’t changed are the really dedicated people doing a lot of interesting and challenging work.”
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders perform at John W. Collier Community Fitness Center at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Feb. 23, 2024. (Christopher Green/Stars and Stripes)
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders sign autographs at John W. Collier Fitness Center at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Feb. 23, 2024. (Christopher Green/Stars and Stripes)
Roper-McCaslin said performing in front of service members and their families was “inherently different” from a stadium because the audience is “choosing to spend their time in the service and in so many cases uprooting their life and taking their family along with them.”
Air Force Maj. Jessica Hillard, who attended the youth clinic and dance show with her 7-year-old daughter, Reyna, said the events were “a good experience for the kids.”
“I think it’s pretty cool for them to take the time to come out and visit active-duty members and their families outside of the U.S.,” Hillard said Friday. “They seem very personable and friendly, and they want to be here.”
