Photo By Norman Shifflett | — Sgt. John Velazquez, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, welds...... read more read more
By Norman Shifflett
Fort Carson Public Affairs Office
FORT CARSON, Colo. — A Soldier for Life-Transition Assistance Program (SFL-TAP) ensures Soldiers have the skills they need when moving from Army to civilian life, and one program found a new home on post.
The Veterans in Piping (VIP) career skills program is in the process of moving onto Fort Carson. Currently, the classes are held off post and require Soldiers to find transportation back and forth to the class.
“It would be a lot easier to do it (at Fort Carson),” said Sgt. 1st Class Bradley Pippin, Warrior Transition Battalion. “We still have some unit responsibilities we have to attend to, so it would limit the amount of time we would miss in class.”
Pippin discovered the VIP program through the SFL-TAP career skills program, and is currently going through the last class being held off post.
The new facility, located at the corner of Tevis Street and Wickersham Boulevard, can handle up to 14 students per class. There are two trailers that have seven top-of-the-line welding stations in them. Each station is set up for gas tungsten arc welding and shielded metal arc welding.
The trailers are also equipped with ventilation fans for each station and welding smoke eaters to protect the Soldiers from inhaling chemicals associated with the weld smoke.
The VIP program is an 18-week course, teaching Soldiers different techniques and will challenge their welding abilities.
“We really put them through the ringer on doing lots of welds,” said Jason Smith, lead instructor, Fort Carson United Association VIP program.
“We teach them how to weld in all different positions, using different types of piping.”
The format has changed due to COVID-19, and the first four weeks of the course is completed online and includes mathematics, use and care of tools, on the job safety and health and welding fundamentals. The following 14 weeks, concentrate on different techniques of welding.
Soldiers can leave the program with two certifications, one in gas tungsten arc welding and one in shielded metal arc welding. With these certifications they are certified to weld any type of piping.
After the Soldiers complete the course, the program sets them up with a five-year apprenticeship anywhere in the U.S. During the apprenticeship, they are paid to work during the day and will attend night school a couple of times a week for continued classes. The additional classes will teach them everything that is trade related to piping. Soldiers can use their Post 9/11 GI Bill to pay for their classes during their apprenticeship.
Once they complete their apprenticeship, they move on to become journeyman welders, which allows a lot more freedom.
“My peers who are retiring look at this and think, ‘Well you will be picking up and throwing steel all day,’ and that is such a small portion of this job,” said Pippin. “People don’t understand that once you become a journeyman — you have a lot of say about what jobs you take and where you go.”
For more information on the career skills program, contact the SFL-TAP main office at 526-1001/1002 or visit the SFL-TAP Center located in building 6237 during their walk-in hours Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
| Date Taken: | 08.27.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 12.23.2020 15:09 |
| Story ID: | 385748 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 119 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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