b'A MarineEncouragesApprenticeship as TheWay OutTroy FoggPlumbers and PipefittersLocal 716,They were great, Troy stated. Mike was also aIm mostly a pipetter State of Maine, journeyman pipefitter TroyMarine back in Vietnam, so he wanted to come Fogg enlisted to be a Marine in 2011, and inback and instruct other Marines how to weld.now. I do a little bit of 2015, he decided to get out and join the UnitedHe wanted to help us and give back to the Association through the Veterans in Pipingbrotherhood of Marines and to the brotherhoodorbital welding. What (VIP) program. Troy was a 1391 bulk fuel spe- of the UA. They are good people. cialist in the Marines. He said, Basically, I was After learning about the VIP program andthey do for us when we a gas pumper. We refueled helicopters, jets,what it had to offer, Troy was excited about theare apprentices, is they ground units, tanks, trucks, generators, etc. Inew opportunity. He said, I had never welded originally left home so I didnt have to pumpbefore. Id never done anything like it before, so Itry to expose us to all gas, and thats what I ended up doing. Its kindwas excited to learn and see where it took me. of funny. I always joke about that. It was what IAs a journeyman, Troy is currently working atthe different elements of got assigned to, but I made a lot of good friendsthe Kinetics Fabrication Shop in Scarborough, doing it. ME. He has been working on various projectsour trade. Right now,In 2013, Troy did one tour in Afghanistanfor Kinetics on and off since 2017. Troy said, from January to August. He noted his experienceIm mostly a pipefitter now. I do a little bit ofwere working on solder-was good overall, but everybodys experience canorbital welding. What they do for us when we be so different during a tour. Troy said, Youveare apprentices, is they try to expose us to all theing copper and copper got all the emotions going. Youre a little nervous,different elements of our trade. Right now, were youre a little excited, youre scared, happy, sad,working on soldering copper and copper fabrica- fabrication for Thermo everything all at the same time. When we firsttion for Thermo Fisher in Massachusetts. Weve got there, we werent sure what to expect, but Idone biopharmaceuticals, pharmaceuticals, andFisher in Massachusetts. had some Sergeantsthe non-commissionedsemiconductor plants. Ive done a lot of work for officerswho were with me who had beenTexas Instruments and Onsemi, and a lot of it isWeve done biopharma-there before and knew what they were doing,plastic, stainless steel, and carbon steel. so that really helped. Troy couldnt be happier with his decision toceuticals, pharmaceuti- Troy had heard about the VIP programjoin the UA through the VIP program. He has through a friend who was also a bulk fuel spe- told his fellow Marines about the program, re- cals, and semiconductor cialist and went through the first VIP class atsulting in several of them becoming UA mem-Camp Lejeune where Troy was stationed. Hebers. I tell everybody to get involved. Itplants. told me they teach you how to weld and thenafforded me a house and a nice vehicle. I bought hook you up with a job after. He told me to gomy house at 24thats unheard of. Troy has Troy Foggto the education center on base and sign up andambitions to become a foreman and eventually start that process, so I did. I didnt know muchbecome more involved with the behind the about it, didnt know what the United Associa- scenes stuff at the Local 716 hall. tion was, but I went and signed up, and then Troy grew up in the greater Portland, ME, there was an interview process, and I met witharea, so he knew he would join Local 716 once the instructors, said Troy. His instructors werehe got out. Local 716 heavily supports veter-Mike Cummings, Dave Porter, and Ray Smith.ans40 percent of the locals apprenticeship 14 opsCAREER'