b'But honestly, the greatest gift was when I signed out of the Army; even well before I signed out, I knew where I was going. I knew I had aColorado, somewhere close to his hometown ofCaleb and his wife continue their service Glenwood Springs. Caleb was offered an ap- through the National Guard. Caleb is in the job. I knew exactlyprenticeship at Plumbers and Pipefitters LocalReserves. He said, Im not doing the same 58 in Colorado Springs, CO, and started inthing I was doing during active. Im a career where I had to go and2019. He is nearly halfway through his trainingcounselor now, so its less stressful in many ways. now, and hes been working for Olson HeatingI know I wont have to deploy, but its stressful when I was starting.and Cooling in Colorado Springs.because I still have soldiers I help and take careHe said, Its a little bit different working forof, and a lot of times those concerns leak outside That takes a hugeOlson here because we do mostly residentialof that one weekend-a-month commitment. work, and most union HVACR companies areThe availability of my time is also sometimes an amount of stress offpredominantly commercial. Originally, it was aissue. I have to go to school for the Army for bit of an adjustment because I learned a lotthree weeks next month, and that takes away of your shoulders. Theabout refrigeration in the VIP program, and Ifrom apprenticeship school and my job, but my wasnt using it. I was doing a lot of retrofit work,boss and training coordinator have been great transition from Armychanging out furnaces, that sort of thing. Iand fully understand the commitment. started in the winter, and it was heavy furnace Caleb is happy about the decision he made to life to civilian life canwork at the time. Still, the program gave me abecome an HVACR service technician. He said, significant advantage once summer rolledHVACR is so broad, you could work in this be very hard. around, even over some of the older, more expe- field for 20 years and not know everything. I will rienced apprentices. I had an understanding ofmake this my career and take advantage of allCaleb Pringle refrigeration systems and left the program withthe opportunities offered to me. Caleb added, certifications that have helped me tremendously.Kids who are in high school need to stop think-But honestly, the greatest gift was when I signeding that college is the only answer. A college de-out of the Army; even well before I signed out, Igree can waste a lot of time and money when knew where I was going. I knew I had a job. Iyou dont know what you want to do. I look at knew exactly where I had to go and when I wassome of these guys my age who went straight starting. That takes a huge amount of stress offinto an apprenticeship and already have 11 years of your shoulders. The transition from Army lifein the trade. As apprentices, were getting paid to to civilian life can be very hard. learn the things that will support our families.Caleb met his wife in the Army, and when heWere getting paid to learn skills instead of pay-changed duty stations to JBLM, she did too.ing someone to learn ideas, because ideas They were married in Washington State. Bothdont get you jobsskills get you jobs. Career Opportunities in Piping for Transitioning Veterans|Fall/Winter 2022 13'