FORT JACKSON, S.C. (Oct. 2, 2014) -- Sgt. 1st Class Robert Isom's voice booms across Hilton Field on a Thursday morning. A script is open before him as he sits in a closed studio over the attending audience, as he guides them through Fort Jackson's weekly Basic Combat Training graduation experience. And it's not a job he takes lightly. Near the script sits a tin of cough drops. And lip balm. And a bottle of throat spray.
As he gets ready to announce the start of the ceremony, Isom leaps to his feet, turns the chair around and hovers over the microphone. He likes to keep his body moving throughout the narration as a way to maintain his cadence as he announces the band, the guests and, finally, the graduating Soldiers.
"I'm honored to do this," said Isom, the new Voice of Victory for Fort Jackson. "It's something I really have a love for. I'm just glad to be a part of the team."
Isom is following in the footsteps of Paula Darrow, who had served as the Voice of Victory for several years and retired recently. In March, he shadowed Darrow to get a feel for the job and was one of several people asked to "audition" for the part several months later.
The audition was a live demonstration that included a public address system, a podium and a reading of a standard graduation script that is used regularly. Darrow was among the panel of judges that helped select her successor.
Isom said Darrow left some big shoes to fill. However, he fully assumed the role about two months ago, making his debut in August during the graduation ceremony for the 1st Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment.
"I have (the script) in my office, hanging on my wall," said Isom, who is assigned to the Army Training Center's operations office.
Although one-time events are more challenging to narrate than regular activities like graduation, he said the post's routine ceremonies are never something that can be taken for granted.
"Even though the verbiage is the same at graduation, the names of the drill sergeants are always different," he said. "You want to make sure you do that justice, as well."
As the Voice of Victory, you'll hear Isom's voice at most of the post's major events, narrating everything from the annual 9/11 wreath laying ceremony to Veterans Day events, as well as weekly graduation ceremonies.
Isom said he and his collaborators usually sequester themselves to prepare new scripts for events. Despite his lone presence at the microphone, he said the final product is a team effort.
"I have my own system set up at home where I practice, practice, practice," he said. "The proper way to say the names, my enunciation and pronunciation, lots of tea, lots of honey, lemon and rest."
Isom previously served as non-commissioned officer in charge of the Army Soldier Show in San Antonio, Texas. He said he became interested in performing while serving as a drill sergeant at Fort Jackson between 2004 and 2006.
"One of my fellow drill sergeants told me (the Army was) looking for talent at the Soldier Show in Washington, D.C.," he said. "I put a tape together and sent it to (the officials) in 2005, and they selected me to travel around the world doing performances. The Army had a show called Bravo Theater, and we performed for Soldiers coming back from deployment."
He said his experience as a drill sergeant was great preparation for the role of Fort Jackson's chief master of ceremonies.
"It's almost the same," he said. "That inflection in the voice, knowing how to utilize the voice for 11 weeks and not wear it out, when to turn in up and turn it down ... all of that plays a part."
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