Fifteen cadets endured 18 grueling weeks of training and completed all the necessary tests to be accepted as new game wardens for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission during a ceremony Sept. 19 in Little Rock.
An 83% graduation rate for the class from where it began, with 18 prospective game wardens, was excellent news to Lt. Tracey Blake, Game and Fish assistant training administrator, who led the ceremony.
"It is a pretty good return, considering especially last year when we started with 16 and only graduated seven. But I told them this week, 'You're a committed group.' That's why there's 15 graduating," Blake said.
Cadets, families, Game and Fish commissioners and others heard from Game and Fish Director Doug Schoenrock, while Benecia B. Moore, a magistrate judge from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, swore in the cadets.
Lt. Col. Joe Williams, interim chief of the Game and Fish enforcement division, presented cadets with their diplomas and also addressed the new class, urging them to "be fair, be consistent," as he had learned from his first partner in Game and Fish enforcement, the late Pat Fitts, who eventually rose to director of the agency. Fitts, who retired in 2021, died earlier this year.
"He had an expectation that you're going to show up early, show up prepared, and most importantly, he had the gift of talking to people and could build those relationships," Williams said of his message to the cadets. "It's about networking with your community, getting to know where you're at. Even though you may not know these people, you've never been in this community in your life, get out here and introduce yourself and say hello."
New game wardens and their county assignments are: Bennett Austin, Clay; Cody Carter, Crittenden; John Frantom, Desha; Phillip Gustavus, Arkansas; Clayton Guy, Lee; Joshua Leech, Prairie; Richie Oliver, Woodruff; Haley Reed, Jackson; TraeMichael Samuel, Howard; Henry Sanders, Randolph; Steven Sheeley, Nevada; Carlton Talley, Drew; Dylan Watkins, Ashley; Triston Webster, Phillips; and Simon Whisenhunt, Ouachita.