• Born in Kansas City, Missouri.

• Enjoy fishing, four-wheeling and spending time with his girlfriend, Jaclyn. He is also building a house.

• Can't live without his hooks, belt and Klein tools.

• A lineman family member got him interested in the trade.

• Describes himself as quiet, reserved, thoughtful and hard-working.

• Inspired to uphold the traditions and rights that so many union linemen have fought for throughout the years.

• Enjoys working on the high line just to be out in the middle of nowhere.

Early Years

I started as a 1^st step apprentice in western Kansas rebuilding lines. I'm now an apprentice lineman 7^th step for IBEW 304 in Kansas. I've been fortunate to have plenty of good bosses and tons of great coworkers. I like working with and respect anyone who works just as hard as the lowest man on the crew.

Day in the Life

Every day, I show up at 7 a.m. and meet with my crew to review the work plan for the day. I then visit the power company to get all the material we need for the job.

Right now, I am on a backyard crew in Wichita, Kansas. It's fun because there is a lot of climbing, and it is always something different every day. We work in customers' backyards setting poles, changing transformers and crossarms, building risers and terminating J cans, vaults and services. Almost all our work is done off the pole.

Apprentice of the Year

Our local in Topeka, Kansas, sponsored an Apprentice of the Year competition, and I was selected as the winner. Each local in the 7^th district had similar contests, and they sent the winners to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to compete against one another. The testing included a journeyman test as well as transformer hook-ups. I won that competition, as well, and was named as the Apprentice of the Year.

After winning the contest, I was presented with an award plaque and an IBEW gold watch at the 7^th district progress meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

As a result of winning this competition, I have received many opportunities for continuing education and networking. For example, I was able to attend NTI classes in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and I also attended the IBEW International Convention in Vancouver, Canada.

Memorable Storm

One of my most memorable storm experiences was working the tornados that went through Alabama this spring. The destruction was unreal. The path of the tornado was definitely visible, and where we were working the damage was so random. There would be houses with nothing left but the slabs they were built on, and the house next door would just have shingles and siding torn off.

Our crew rebuilt the main lines and put power back to the homes that were left. We worked 17 hours a day for eight days until we restored power in our area. The people were very appreciative of us being there to help. Even though they had lost everything, they were happy and thankful to be alive. It was cool to see everyone helping one another to cope and to salvage what little possessions they had left.

Safety Lesson

An accident nearly happened when my crew was clipping in a hard angle static on a high line job. We were using blocks to pull the wire out of the dolly so we could put it in an angle shoe. At that point, the rope in the blocks broke. It showed the importance of having a safety on the line and staying out of the bite. We followed both of these safety rules and everything turned out okay.

Challenges and Rewards

The biggest challenge is working the long hours on storms, but the reward is getting customers' power restored. With the current down economy, another challenge is that many utilities are holding on to their work and not releasing it to the contractors.

Life as a Lineman

Line work is fun and rewarding. I love my job, and the only thing that I would change is that I would have tried to get into the apprenticeship sooner. In the future, I want to top out and to be the best journeyman that I can be.