Lara Croft, Meet Combat Barbie

And now, swinging about as far away from our Ramadan story as we possibly can (variety is the spice of life), we now take you to the 2009 Miss England competition.

Runner-up Katrina Hodge - aka: Combat Barbie - is a Lance Corporal in the British Military. Although currently serving as a Military Clerk with the Adjutant General Corps, in 2005 she won a commendation for bravery while on tour in Iraq. Trained as a female searcher, she was on an operation in Basra with The Royal Anglian Regiment. They were transporting a prisoner when their vehicle rolled over three times. When she came around the truck the prisoner had to rifles pointed at her compatriots. Taking a page from Lara Croft (or Xena, or your favorite paramilitary vixen), she smacked - punched, not kissed - the suspect and disarmed him.

I smell video game.

In the talent portion of the Miss England competition she performed a rifle drill.

After losing out in the final to Rachel Christie (niece of Olympic champion Linford Christie), she is salving her wounds by becoming a lingerie model for La Senza. La Senza, for its part, will offer a 15% discount to members of the Armed Forces.

For those of you who are interested, here is her official Miss England Bio.

Sources:
The Sun (via Fark)
Mienfoks
Ministry of Defence News (via The Old Coot)
BBC
Daily Mail
La Senza
Miss England