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SF Soldiers set to WOW others in tournament

By Carol Darby
USASOC Public Affairs

JORDAN LAKE, N.C. (Sine Pari, April 19, 2008) – For 34 Special Operations Forces personnel their April 18th fishing trip was not just a day out of the office.

These SOF personnel represented a small fraction of the 180 Soldiers, Marines, airmen, and reserve component Soldiers who participated in the third
wow annual Warriors on the Water, or WOW, fishing tournament here. Professional anglers, local citizen boaters and Soldier-fishermen from Fort Bragg brought more than 175 boats here and were paired with a military fisherman or women for a day of fishing and fun.

Just after sunrise the active, guard and reserve military personnel stood in a sea of boats with pro anglers and other fishermen while the Army Special Operation Command’s Chief Warrant Officer 5 Charles King sang the National Anthem.

Growing from an idea to do something special for military personnel returning from the War on Terror, avid bass tournament fishermen and retired Operation Desert Storm veterans Hal Abshire, Greg Lahr and Bob Cunningham brought the idea to reality, according to a WOW media fact sheet. They organized a volunteer committee of business men and women, active duty and retired veterans, and others who plan the many facets of the tournament from year to year.

According to Bunny Powers, Fayetteville, N.C., business woman and WOW Committee member, the first WOW fishing tournament held in May 2006, “was planned in just six weeks and we had 51 boats on the water. It became apparent very quickly that we were going to grow by leaps and bounds.”

In the second year of WOW 152 military personnel were paired with anglers representing FLW Outdoors, Bass Anglers Sportsmen Society and Ranger Boats.

For more information, about the annual WOW fishing tournament to include volunteer support and sponsorship, visit the website at www.warriorsonthewater.com .

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