Career Opportunities in Piping for Transitioning Veterans | Spring/Summer 2019 7 as an infantryman right out of high school,” Sam Phipps said. “Ever since I can remember, it was just something that I felt I needed to do and had an obligation to do. I was sta- tioned at Fort Lewis (Joint Base Lewis-McChord). I was in for four years and deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. Transitioning out of the Army is probably the scariest part of the military. I have two kids now, but at the time of transitioning, I just had my oldest son, who was six months old at the time. I felt a lot of pressure during that time to find something that would allow me to take care of my family.” Before Sam had kids, he had aspirations to do some overseas contracting once he got out of the Army. He said that once he had his son, that plan was no longer an option, and he viewed the birth of his son as a game-changer for his life’s goals. Sam grew up in the small town of Elsberry, MO, about an hour fom St. Louis, and he felt a strong pull to return home with his family. He said, “I remember talking to someone back home about getting into the union (United Associa- tion). I didn’t know much about it at the time. He told me when I returned home that I should go to technical school to study HVACR (heating, ventila- tion, air conditioning, and refrigeration). I could tell he had done well for himself in this trade. While I was still in the Army, I was talking to one of my guys in my platoon about what I wanted to do when I got out, and he said, ‘Why don’t you check out the VIP (Veterans in Piping) HVACR program right here on the post?’ I told him I would, and I did.” Sam attended the information session about the HVACR service technician VIP program. He said, Sam has Been Rewarded for His Love of the Outdoors “I joined the Army Sam Phipps