“I’m looking forward to carrying on this Fort Hood tradition,” Spellmon said. “First, it’s an honor to represent all the soldiers, DA civilians, contractors and their families at this holiday event.

“Second, and just as importantly, it’s my pleasure to be part of Ballet Austin’s annual tradition and to be able to thank them for their support of soldiers and their families,” he said. “What a great opportunity to be in front of more than 2,000 people, many of whom have never had direct contact with the military, and get to enjoy the fun right along with them.”

The entire performance takes less than three minutes, but is the comedic highlight of the ballet. Russian composer Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky, who scored the ballet, saved his most vulgar music for this sequence. Sounding like a series of fairground tunes, the Mother Ginger sequence is wildly popular in American productions of the ballet.

First performed in San Francisco in 1944, the timeless ballet is staged in countless American cities every year, particularly around Christmas.

This will be the 52nd performance of Ballet Austin’s “The Nutcracker.”

OTC’s Brig. Gen. Chris Tucker, Command Sgt. Maj. Larry Wilson, Col. Curt Potts, Brig. Gen. Don MacWillie, Col. Steve Duke, Kenny Crawford, then-Col. Joe Martin, and Col. Jeff Harris have also participated. All performances have been sold out.

Spellmon said he hasn’t received any advice from former Mother Gingers but welcomes any suggestions, recommendations or lessons learned.

“I haven’t asked for any pointers from anyone, nor have I looked at videos of previous performances,” he said with a laugh. “I’m just going to go out there and have a good time and hope everyone else does, too.”

Cookie Ruiz, Ballet Austin executive director, said she looks forward to Spellmon’s performance next month.

“We are so pleased to be able to honor our service members who so gallantly and selflessly protect and defend our nation,” she said.

Ballet Austin is the 12th largest ballet company in the United States.