Helmets to Hardhats Opens Doors into New Trades for Veterans
From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
By Mike Cronin, staff reporter for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Thursday,
October 23, 2008
A lack of time on a construction site typically hurts when trying to get a job with the Iron
Workers Local Union No. 3 in the Strip District. That is, unless, the resume includes
military service under the "work experience" heading.
"It sounded like something I wanted to do," Patrick Morgan, 26, of Industry in Beaver County
said of applying for the national Helmets to Hardhats program. "That type of stuff interests me --
learning trades. I love it. They have been nothing but good to me."
Morgan is one of more than 5,000 veterans across the country who have started careers in
trades such as roofing, plumbing and steam fitting since Helmets to Hardhats was founded in 2003,
said Darrell L. Roberts, the nonprofit's executive director. The program connects interested vets
with unions that represent 15 building trades.
Military experience in many states, including Pennsylvania, enables vets -- if they meet
competency requirements -- to bypass the waiting lists that many unions have for apprenticeship
positions, said Mike Metz, the Pennsylvania director of Helmets to Hardhats.
"Sometimes, we have 350 on our waiting list, but we can take only 50 or 60," said Jim Gallik,
the apprentice coordinator for Local Union No. 3. The union has hired about 10 vets, such as
Morgan, who came through Helmets to Hardhats in the past year, he said.
"We're very happy with them," Gallik said. "They're reliable and dependable."
Morgan began about three months ago. The former Marine radio operator left the Corps last
year and served two tours in Iraq.
"I'm really learning a lot," said Morgan, who now knows how to read blueprints and lay out
studs for a floor. He's even gotten to weld a little bit.
Veterans in Helmets to Hardhats can use money from the GI Bill to help with living expenses
while completing their three-year apprenticeships.
"That's almost $1,000 a month," said Mike Ault, 29, of Canonsburg, who joined Local No. 3
about two months ago. Ault served in the Marines from 2002 to 2007 as a radio technician and
finished as a sergeant. He served in Iraq in 2003 and 2005.
Although ironworker apprentices make about $16 an hour -- or 55 percent of what they will
make when they complete training -- and Ault has to pay for lodging in a Johnstown hotel for his
current job, he's "still clearing more money than in the military," he said.
The pay is part of what helps Helmets to Hardhats entice vets, Metz said. "Some crafts pay
more than $100,000 a year. The average is about $77,000."
The Department of Defense funds Helmets to Hardhats, Roberts said from his Washington, D.C.,
office. The program's 2009 fiscal budget is $3 million. A program representative is responsible for
helping vets connect with construction companies in every state, Roberts said.
"At the end of the day, having an advocate on your side who can tell you where you need to
go, who you need to talk to and what you can expect during the interview makes all the difference
in the world," he said.
Brian Englert, 24, of Munhall applied to the program because the jobs it supplies are needed
even in tough economic times.
"It's a good business to get into," said Englert, whose father, Roy Englert, is an
ironworker. They both work at the U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock. "My dad was able to
feed his family being an ironworker."
Englert, who has been an apprentice for about a year and a half, served as a Marine
infantryman from 2003-07 and left as a sergeant. He did two tours in Iraq: one in 2004 and one in
2005.
"This is a good program," Englert said. "I told some of my friends in the military about it."
Mike Cronin can be reached at
mcronin@tribweb.com or 412-320-7884.
Reprinted with permission from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/north/s_594455.html
