Email   Print   Share By Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Facebook Digg Delicious September 6, 2012 | Leisure

Spc. Whitney Jones, human resource specialist out of Pinellas Park, Fla., belts out a song at the 2012 U.S. Army Soldier Show held at Abrams Physical Fitness Center Friday. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Sgt. Drake DeLucca, Army Entertainment media and lead engineer, salutes the Soldiers in attendance of the 2012 U.S. Army Soldier Show at Abrams Physical Fitness Center Friday night. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Spc. Genesis Rodriguez, parachute rigger out of Fort Benning, Ga., sings a comical song about how women in the Army can do anything the men can at the 2012 U.S. Army Soldier Show Friday at Abrams Physical Fitness Center. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Pfc. Jessie Vinson, 69th ADA Bde.; Pfc. De’Andre Fletcher, water treatment specialist, Fort Drum, N.Y.; and Spc. Kayonnia Crowder, food operations specialist, Fort Carson, Colo., perform a hip-hop number Friday. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Army Entertainment Soldiers pose at the end of a PT-themed “Hard Knock Life” rendition at the 2012 U.S. Army Soldier Show. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Labor Day weekend kicked off at Fort Hood with the 2012 US Army Soldier Show, an Army Entertainment production, Friday at Abrams Physical Fitness Center.

The 2012 U.S. Army Soldier Show, presented by the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, had a full house at Abrams, packed with an audience of returning and first-time Soldier Show spectators.

“We come to the Soldier Show every year; they put on a great performance,” retired Chief Warrant Officer 5 Paul Habhab said about he and his wife Linda’s attendance.

“I’ve always thought it’s a great activity for the Soldiers in attendance to see how much talent they have, and to see what other Soldiers are doing,” he said.

Retired 4th Infantry Division Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Scharff and his wife, Toni, came to the show with the Habhabs for their first time, and said they were both excited to see what it was all about.

The U.S. Army Soldier Show is completely put on by Soldiers from different duty stations throughout the Army, from the performing and acting to the music and lighting – and two of this year’s Army Entertainment Soldiers are from Fort Hood.

Pfc. Jessie Vinson, 1st Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, has a long history of self-taught hip-hop dance skills, and he said he has always danced for fun. Being a naturally talented dancer is what made his first sergeant urge Vinson to audition for Army Entertainment while their unit was still deployed to Kuwait from December 2010 to December 2011.

Vinson said he was a little hesitant because of his deployment, but after his leaders saw him dance, they also began encouraging him to audition.

“They all helped me put an audition tape together and send it in to Army Entertainment,” Vinson recalled. “I got the message that I was chosen for a live audition in San Antonio, and no one wasted any time getting me there.”

Soldiers who are chosen to travel and perform with Army Entertainment not only have to be great performers, they also have to be great Soldiers to obtain permission and blessing from their commanders to be released for the 10 months the Soldier Show is traveling.

Another performer, Staff Sgt. Felicia Mitchell, Washington Criminal Investigation Division Battalion, Fort Meyer, Va., said one thing she loves doing is performing for the different branches in the military, not just the Army.

“There isn’t anything like the Soldier Show in the other branches, so I love bringing it to our other service members,” said Mitchell, who also revealed that she loves to perform for fun at military ceremonies and professional sporting events.

Before Mitchell, Vinson and the rest of the performing Army Entertainment Soldiers took the stage, Lead Army Entertainment Engineer Sgt. Drake DeLucca introduced the show with an Army Strong introduction, saying, “These are America’s Soldiers, not only can they perform for entertainment, they are a part of the best and most professional team of performers in the world – the United States Army. Soldiers who perform under pressure, in war, to keep our country free and safe. Perform on the battlefield, and now the stage.”

As the crew came out and opened with an Army version of Christina Aguilera’s “Stronger,” they had the crowd in Abrams dancing and listening to every word. All of the verse changes and dance moves were Family appropriate.

After the show, all of the performers lined up on stage and took turns saying who they were and where they are currently stationed, with Vinson getting a loud round of applause from the Fort Hood audience when he reported being from Fort Hood.

The cast and crew then left the stage and went outside to meet the audience and sign autographs for the more than 100 people who wanted to meet them.

“It’s been worth it,” Vinson said of traveling constantly to more than 80 locations internationally. “If we can just make one person happy at these performances, it’s all worth it.”