Soldier earns Silver Star Taking the guidon Shooting for a target ...

18 a r k a n s a s M I N U T E M A N
September 2007
National Guard team hosts Wal-Mart, FLW tournament
By Maj. Keith Moore
ANG Public Affairs Officer
ROYAL, Ark. — The National
Guard hosted the field
of 160 professional bass fishermen
who gathered here at Brady
Mountain Resort on Lake Ouachita
to brave the 100 degree
plus temperatures in pursuit of
the Forrest L. Wood Cup event
August 2nd through the 5th.
Ironically, an Arkansan took
the event on his home lake .
Scott Suggs, an electrical contractor
from Bryant, Arkansas,
electrified a packed Summit
Arena at the final weigh-in as
he surpassed nine other anglers
in the finals with a total weight
of 17 lbs and 1 oz to capture the
2007 Forrest L. Wood Cup.
The Forrest L. Wood Cup
event in Hot Springs was the
culmination of the Wal-Mart/
FLW Tournament Series season.
At stake was the largest
purse ever offered in bass fishing
- $1 million. Ranger boats
also contributed $500,000 to
the winner.
As Irwin Jacobs, chairman
of FLW Outdoors, realized his
own decade-long dream of
awarding one angler $1 million
for winning a bass tournament,
he handed Suggs the check.
“My little girls are getting a
pool!” Suggs announced, denoting
his intentions for the
momentous funds. “My daughters
are 4 and 10 years old, and
I promised them and my wife
a pool if I won. This is a dream
come true for all of us.”
At the outset of the four-day
event, the field of 81 boats set
out from Brady Mountain Resort’s
two boat ramps at 7 a.m.
to thunderous applause and the
reverberating echo of a 105 millimeter
howitzer which sounded
the start.
Two anglers from the National
Guard sponsored team
began the event in the “hunt”
for the big money. Scott Martin,
a member of the National Guard
sponsored team and winner of
the Snickers “Big Bass” award
said his strategy was to fish the
grassy shorelines early and work
along some deeper shelves later
in the day. Martin who came
into the championship ranked
39th overall was optimistic on
the first day of fishing.
Martin, a Clewiston, Fla. native
was unknowingly prophetic
in his pre-tournament comments
when asked about his
Photo by Maj. Keith Moore, Arkansas National GuardPublic Affairs Office
Scott Martin, a professional bass fisherman for the National Guard team, proudly displays stickers on his
boat depicting the unit patch for several units currently deploye d from the Arkansas National Guard. He added
the unit stickers in preparation for the first round of the Wal-Mart/FLW series Forrest L. Wood Cup event held
Photo by Maj. Keith Moore, Arkansas National GuardPublic Affairs Office
Scott Suggs of Bryant, displays the Forrest L. Wood Cup to the
crowd of thousands after being presented with the trophy by its namesake
Mr. Forrest L. Wood (left) founder of Ranger Boats Corporation.
Suggs won the 2007 Forrest Wood Cup event Aug. 5, 2007, which was
held on Lake Ouachita in Hot Springs. Along with the trophy, Suggs took
home a $1 million check from the FLW Outdoors and $500,000 from
chances in winning the event.
“There are a few home-town
guys from Arkansas here, and
this lake is their home turf, so
the competition is tight. But
with the warm weather and the
fish working deep it could be
anybody’s tournament. We’ll
have to see how things go after
today,” Martin said.
Fellow National Guard teammate
Clifford Pirch, who came
into the tournament in 43rd
place was equally optimistic, “I
just say a little prayer then go try
to enjoy doing some fishing.”
Neither Martin or Pirch made
the cut for the final round of the
tournament as the field of competitors
was narrowed to the 10
finalists after the weigh-in on
Friday. Pirch, who had a twoday
total of 10 fish weighing
18 lbs 15 ozs., finished in 13th
place overall. Martin weighedin
a total of 7 fish for 12 lbs 9
ozs. to put him finishing in 40th
place.
No matter what your ranking,
getting paid to fish is definitely
a perk of the job. And paid they
were, as Pirch’s 13th place finish
netted him a payoff of $18,000
while Martin earned $10,000
for his 40th place finish.
Aside from the spectacle of
the weigh-in and presentation
of the $1 million award, one focal
point that held every spectator’s
attention at the event was
a video teleconference where
the father of a deployed Arkansas
National Guardsman got to
see and talk to his son live from
Iraq.
Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, director
of the Army National Guard,
joined Maj. Gen. William Wofford,
adjutant general of the
Arkansas National Guard and
Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe
on the stage and told the crowd
how important Families are
to the Guard, and how pleased
the Guard was to facilitate this
meeting via satellite for this
Soldier and his father. Then
the General asked Mr. Tommy
Crawford of Jonesboro, Ark. to
join them on stage as the giant
20-foot screen behind the stage
came alive with video of Spc.
Levi Crawford, a member of Co.
B, 875 Engineers and three of
his colleagues live from Logistic
Support Area Anaconda, Iraq.
The crowd cheered and gave
the soldiers a resounding “Hoohah”
at the prompting of Gen.
Vaughn. Mr. Crawford and his
son exchanged a few comments
then Spc. Crawford introduced
the crowd to the three soldiers
with him. Mr. Crawford laughed
and did the same saying…”Son,
you might well recognize the
few individuals here with me” as
he introduced Lt. Gen. Vaughn,
Maj. Gen. Wofford and Ranger
Boats founder Forrest L. Wood
and bass fishing legend Hank
Parker.
After a few questions from
each of the men about how the
Soldiers were doing in Iraq, Mr.
Crawford was escorted from
the stage to a television production
truck outside where he was
able to talk privately with his
son for about 20 minutes. Then
Governor Beebe brought out 20
recruits to the stage and gave
them the induction oath and
swore them in as members of
the Arkansas National Guard.
Other highlights of the FLW
bass fishing event included the
National Guard Junior World
Championship which was held
simultaneously on nearby Lake
Hamilton in Hot Springs. This
event hosted a field of 11 to 18
year old anglers out to capture
a $5,000 scholarship towards
their college education.
The six top anglers in each
age division (11-14 and 15-18)
got the opportunity to fish with
a pro from the National Guard
team in their boat during the
championship round on Sunday.
Shane Lehew, 18, of Charlotte,
NC was crowned the
National Guard Junior World
Champion Bass Fisherman for
the 15-18 year old division. He
was presented with a $5,000
scholarship by The National
Guard, FLW Outdoors and
See TEAM, page 19