“I went in and applied for a position in the class. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I went in for my interview, and the place was packed, and I thought there was no way I was going to get into this program just by being an infantry guy. I went into the interview, and there was a group of guys sit- ting there who just kept shooting off questions. I thought it went pretty well when I finished, and then I got the phone call that I was selected.” Sam said the program was an incredible experi- ence. “It is the greatest thing I’ve ever done,” he stated. “It just set me up for life, and not just for my- self, but for my family too.” Sam described his lead VIP instructor, William McLaurin, who was an Army veteran himself, as an accomplished United Association HVACR journeyman and instructor who was “such an intelligent and patient guy.” As Sam neared the completion of the program, he was asked where he would like to be placed to finish his apprenticeship with the United Associ- ation. He wanted to return to St. Louis, and that is exactly where he was placed. Sam joined the HVACR apprenticeship program at Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562 in St. Louis and was im- mediately hired by Murphy Company as an HVACR service technician. “They rolled out the red carpet for me,” he said. “I went through orientation, got a van to work out of, and they said, ‘Can you start today?’ I asked them if I could take 30 days off first, and they said, ‘Sure!’ I was given a phone, an iPad, and a van. I re- ceived everything I needed to be successful in this industry. It was just incredible.” Sam has most recently completed his apprentice- ship and has turned out as a journeyman, and he described a typical day. “I get dispatched via my iPad, and I get the week’s plans at the end of the week for the following week. So, if I have a lot of maintenance calls, I can go ahead and plan my week accordingly to get my 40-hour work week in. In be- tween those, I might have some service calls or whatever else the other technicians at Murphy Company might need help with. The people I work with are the greatest. I can call up and say, ‘I need some work hours if it looks like we have a light work week,’ and they’ll say, ‘Come on out.’” He continued, “Each technician is responsible for one week of on-call duty twice a year. If you’re comfortable enough as a third-year apprentice, you can get that. The training I received in the VIP HVACR program was great, and a lot of it put me ahead of my apprentice classmates. By the time I got to the local, I had already had my OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Admin- istration) and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) certifications.” For Sam, it wasn’t all about the training he received though. He stated that the individuals who run the VIP program and the leadership at his local union understand the hardships and challenges transitioning from the military can pro- duce. He said, “I love the local union environment. The camaraderie is like the military. It’s like a big family, and they take care of you.” The local union environment has also become a stage for something that Sam is extraordinarily pas- sionate about. While in the military, Sam met a fel- low soldier by the name of Eric Bakken. In 2010, while patrolling at a remote outpost in Afghanistan, Eric, along with two other soldiers, dreamt of form- ing a non-profit organization that would help get veterans of all branches of the military outdoors. Sadly, one of the soldiers who had this first dream was killed in action. The dream was realized as “The Fallen Outdoors.” Today, “The Fallen Out- doors” promotes fishing, big-game hunting, and everything in between. As an avid bow hunter, Sam became vested as part of this team in 2012 and has guided numerous bow hunting initiatives with vet- erans, some of whom have suffered catastrophic in- juries in combat. The guides volunteer their time, and the trips are made possible through donations to the organization. This year, the organization will facilitate 18,000 hunting and fishing trips across the CAREERops 8 “I had the privilege to have this young man and his mother out from Kansas in hopes to harvest his first deer during our Missouri youth hunt in 2017. His mom is active-duty Army and has been serving our country for 23 years and counting. Her son, Adam, survived stage-four neuroblastoma cancer, which has never slowed him down. With the help from my brother, Josh, Adam was able to pull it off on the last morning, which just so happened to be his 10th birthday. This right here is one I’ll never forget!” “My main thought,” he said, “is to be the best and most proficient at my job. I want to be involved in getting more veterans into the trades. Down the road, I will work very hard promoting both the VIP and the Helmets to Hardhats (H2H) programs.” – Sam Phipps