Army Soldiers Benefit from Project Healing Waters

by Erik L. Ness, Director of Communicatons/Media Relations

The Rio Penasco of New Mexico is a long way from the Euphrates River in Iraq but both rivers have their healing powers.

The Penasco, which runs down the east side of the Sacramento Mountains in southern New Mexico, has long been a refuge for fishermen and hikers and is now providing some peace and relaxation for some U.S. Army troops returning from combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Otero County Farm and Livestock Bureau Vice President, Jim Ellet, has joined with the Mesilla Valley Flyfishers Inc. to organize fishing outings for soldiers on a stretch of the Penasco between Elk and Hope that the club leases from Ellet.

Through Project Hearing Waters the MVFF have hosted several groups of soldiers for fly tying and casting clinics over the past year. Volunteers from the MVFF Club teach the basics of knot tying and the art of fishing with a fly then the soldiers head for the river bank to try their luck (skill) at the endeavor. The fishing club serves lunch to the whole crew and its back to the quest for German Brown and Rainbow Trout.

State Senator Tim Jennings who has a ranch in the Penasco Valley got legislation passed at the state house that allows the soldiers to fish without having to purchase a license.

According to Ron Bellerose of the fishing club, Fort Bliss in El Paso runs a program for active duty military personnel who are having challenges with adjusting to life after combat. Each soldier signs up for a six month program which includes participation in Project Healing Waters. The next group of soldiers is expected on the Penasco River in September. Bellarose estimates that about two percent of the soldiers have fly fishing experience and the MVFF, along with Otero County Farm Bureau voluneers, are on hand to teach the skills needed to pull success from the river and so far the soldiers have been very successful.

The art of fly fishing is far from the distant battlefields of war but ranchers and fisherman stand on the banks of the Rio Penasco ready to assist those who put their lives on the line every day for the rest of us.