Something Fishy At FOB Hammer

203rd BSB Chaplain Works To Create Fish Pond for Hammer Soldiers
SPC. BEN HUTTO3/3RD INF. DIV. PUBLIC AFFAIRS

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq

Swartz and Spc. Jesse Evans, a fuel specialist from Co.B, 203rd BSB, cast Swartz’s homemade fishing net across a canal outside of FOB Hammer.

Chaplain (Capt.) Mike Swartz, the chaplain for the 203rd BSB, draws his homemade fishing net across a canal outside of FOB Hammer. Swartz is transferring fish from the canal to a retaining pond inside the FOB.

— In the bible, Jesus fed multitudes with one fish. A 203rd Brigade Support Battalion chaplain is hoping fish will satisfy the appetites of some Fort Benning, Ga., Soldiers.

Chaplain (Capt.) Mike Swartz, from Winston-Salem, N.C., and an avid fisherman, has been working to build a fish pond on Forward Operating Base Hammer for the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team Soldiers.

Swartz, who wants to do his part in increasing morale, has transferred approximately 30 fish from the canals outside FOB Hammer to a raw water pond inside the wire since May 26 using a fishing net he made from supplies donated to him by the 203rd BSB Soldiers.

Bernie Hoffinger, a water well driller for Kellogg, Brown and Root and a San Diego native, has been one of the people helping Swartz to create the pond. “I can’t think of a better way to spend my time,” said Hoffinger. “Soldiers are the whole reason I came out here. I wanted to make sure they had water and in the process found a way to give them fish.”

Swartz hopes to add more fish to the pond so it will be ready to be used by 3rd HBCT Soldiers
by August. He hopes the net he receives from a Columbus, Ga., vendor will allow him to stock the pond.

“The one I use now is just a modified cargo net with washers tied to the bottom, to add weight to the base and some water bottles connected to the top to make it float,” explained Swartz. Swartz thinks the pond will provide the Soldiers a place to go and relax.

“Just being next to the water and having a place to cast and retrieve, will really give Soldiers an
avenue to unwind,” said Swartz. “Fishing gives Soldiers a way to get close to nature. It’s a freedom.