--- title: Camp Pendleton VIP Graduate makes a life in Butte, MT with Local 41 description: We had a TAPS program and it was there that I found out about the Camp Pendleton Veterans In Piping (VIP) welding program, and I thought it was great. image: https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/images/Joe_Miller_Butte_MT.jpg --- [![United Association Veterans In Piping Program logo](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/uavip-seventeen/logos/uavip-logo.svg "United Association Veterans In Piping Program logo")](https://www.uavip.org/) UNITED ASSOCIATION VETERANS IN PIPING PROGRAM [![Union Plumbers, Fitters, Welders and Service Technicians logo](https://www.uavip.org/hs-fs/hubfs/uavip-seventeen/logos/ua-logo-round-w-text-wt.png?width=798&height=798&name=ua-logo-round-w-text-wt.png "Union Plumbers, Fitters, Welders and Service Technicians logo")](https://www.ua.org/) Union Plumbers, Fitters, Welders and Service Technicians [Ë](https://www.uavip.org/news-happenings/camp-pendleton-vip-graduate-turns-out-as-journeyman-and-makes-a-life-in-butte-mt-with-local-41#mobile) ## NEWS AND HAPPENINGS WITH VIP Take a look at some of the newsworthy items for the VIP program. # Camp Pendleton VIP Graduate makes a life in Butte, MT with Local 41 - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [ UA Veterans in Piping ](https://www.uavip.org/news-happenings/author/ua-veterans-in-piping-vip) ###### Jul 22, 2015 10:00:00 AM ![](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/images/Joe_Miller_Butte_MT.jpg) ![Joe_Miller_Butte_MT](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/images/Joe_Miller_Butte_MT.jpg) Joseph Miller was in the Marines for eight years and one month, from 2003 to 2011. He endured three deployments in four years and then became an instructor at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center located 21 miles north of Bridgeport, CA. Joe said, “We had a transition readiness program (TAPS) that I attended before I got out, and it was there that I found out about the Camp Pendleton VIP welding program, and I thought it was great. I started in January of 2011. You get what you put into the class. If you want to learn a whole bunch, you will. I had never welded before. I was a single dad. The idea of benefits and a job was really important. Once I separated from the Marines, there wasn’t going to be any health insurance. I just couldn’t go on to college and forget about my son.” Joe completed the VIP program and continued his apprenticeship as a second-year apprentice with Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 230 in San Diego, CA. He was originally from San Diego, so the transition was seamless. “I met my wife in San Diego,” he said. “She was a buddy of mine from the military’s wife’s sister. She lived in Montana. For a whole year, I kept calling the old business manager of Local 41 in Butte, MT, to see if I could transfer to Butte. We both wanted to live there. A year went by, and I finally called up and said, ‘I’m headed up,’ and the current business manager, Sean Smith, got me a job two weeks after I got here. That would have been in May of 2012.” “When I first came, I worked for a company called Corval Group and went to Conoco Phillips with Jacobs in Billings, about three-and-a-half hours from Great Falls, where we live now. I worked on the dam in Great Falls, worked for TriCounty, and then Dave Covert of Combustion Service Company was looking for a guy, and I went to apprenticeship school with his son, so I heard about it that way. So I’ve been working for him for two-and-a-half years now. We have a lot of work in town here with the public schools in Great Falls. My wife has a daughter, and I have a son, and we have a son together. It’s been great for my family.” Combustion Service Company specializes in boiler installations and repairs and works on all the pump and piping within the boiler room itself. They install and maintain large commercial industrial boilers, all the way down to little teapot boilers that one would see in a jewelry store, Dave Covert, the owner, explained. “We do a lot of work at schools, apartments and hospitals, as well,” Dave said. “I needed someone who could weld and fit, and I spoke to Sean Smith, the business manager, who explained the program to me. We hired Joe and never looked back. He’s been here almost three years, and we have had a super apprentice here. He could do anything. He learns quickly, has a great attitude, and it doesn’t matter what kind of a hole we put him in—he is willing to get in and make it look good, and he does it right.” He continued, “The VIP program was something I had never heard of, and when Joe stepped in here as a second-year apprentice and had all of those qualifications, I was very impressed that they had done a good job. The training he went through was very good. He didn’t know anything about boiler work when he got here, but he had all the basics about welding and fitting, and it’s just a matter of applying it to the job. I’ve been doing this for 42 years—my dad started it in 1971, and I took over in 1988—so I know what a good employee looks like, and he’s one of them.” Now that Joe has recently turned out as a full-blown journeyman, he feels his training has really paid off. “I have a lot of friends who went to college who aren’t making any money,” he said. “When you look at your wages, compared to a four-year degree, once you hit journeyman, your wages are right there, and you don’t have any debt. I hate sitting. You are always doing something with this job. It’s not sitting at a desk looking at the same paperwork coming across your desk day after day. It’s something different each day. It’s just been perfect for me and my family.”   [UA](https://www.uavip.org/news-happenings/topic/ua)  |   [Veterans in Piping (VIP) Program](https://www.uavip.org/news-happenings/topic/veterans-in-piping-vip-program)  |   [Accelerated Welding Training](https://www.uavip.org/news-happenings/topic/accelerated-welding-training)  |   [Camp Pendleton](https://www.uavip.org/news-happenings/topic/camp-pendleton)  |   [Union Training](https://www.uavip.org/news-happenings/topic/union-training) ##### Comments ## faq FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS We’re sure you have lots of questions about the VIP Program. A lot of these questions can be answered in our FAQ area. Click the button below to learn more. [faq](https://www.uavip.org/faq) ## Video and Photo Gallery Take a [look](https://www.uavip.org/media-gallery) at everything the VIP program is doing for our returning veterans — through videos and photos. ![VIP Graduate David Adams](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/images/VIP_Graduate_David_Adams_sm.jpg "VIP Graduate David Adams") ![VIP Graduate David Adams](https://www.uavip.org/hs-fs/hubfs/images/VIP_Graduate_David_Adams_sm-large.jpg?width=153&height=217&name=VIP_Graduate_David_Adams_sm-large.jpg "VIP Graduate David Adams") Pipefitters Local 455, St. Paul, MN, Apprentice David Adams (VIP graduate, Wisconsin Welding Class 2) is pictured on the job working for Pioneer Piping, Incorporated (PPI) at the Flint Hills Refinery in MN. ![Camp Pendleton](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/images/Joe_Miller_Butte_MT_2.jpg "Camp Pendleton") ![Camp Pendleton](https://www.uavip.org/hs-fs/hubfs/images/Joe_Miller_Butte_MT_2-large.jpg?width=153&height=217&name=Joe_Miller_Butte_MT_2-large.jpg "Camp Pendleton") Camp Pendleton VIP Graduate turned out as Journeyman and makes a life in Butte, MT, with Local 41. ![Orry graduated](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/images/Orry_Camp_Lejeune_02.jpg "Orry graduated") ![Orry graduated](https://www.uavip.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Photo_Gallery_/Orry_Camp_Lejeune_02_large.jpg?width=153&height=217&name=Orry_Camp_Lejeune_02_large.jpg "Orry graduated") Orry graduated on April 9, 2015 and affiliated with UA Local 455, St. Paul, MN. ![Jerry Heneha](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/images/Jerry_FT_Sill_Class_01.jpg "Jerry Heneha") ![Jerry Heneha](https://www.uavip.org/hs-fs/hubfs/images/Jerry_FT_Sill_Class_01-large-1.jpg?width=217&height=153&name=Jerry_FT_Sill_Class_01-large-1.jpg "Jerry Heneha") Sgt. Jerry Heneha, A Battery, 1st Battalion, 31st Field Artillery, puts together a valve system in preparation for his final week of the United Association's Veterans in Piping program at the Industrial Training Complex Photo Credit: Ms. Marie Berberea (TRADOC) ![inaugural Sprinkler](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/images/Fort_Sill_Class_01_800x600.jpg "inaugural Sprinkler") ![inaugural Sprinkler](https://www.uavip.org/hs-fs/hubfs/images/Fort_Sill_Class_01_800x600-large.jpg?width=217&height=169&name=Fort_Sill_Class_01_800x600-large.jpg "inaugural Sprinkler") Fort Sill's inaugural Sprinkler Fitter class began on 2 March 2015. ![SFC Michael Olsen](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/images/VIP15FtHood-_104.jpg "SFC Michael Olsen") ![SFC Michael Olsen](https://www.uavip.org/hs-fs/hubfs/images/VIP15FtHood-_104-large.jpg?width=217&height=153&name=VIP15FtHood-_104-large.jpg "SFC Michael Olsen") SFC Michael Olsen and 1SG William Davidson presented their instructors Louis Purcella and Micah Tyler with a momentum from the class. ![SGT Howard Nash](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/images/VIP15FtHood-_055.jpg "SGT Howard Nash") ![SGT Howard Nash](https://www.uavip.org/hs-fs/hubfs/images/VIP15FtHood-_055-large.jpg?width=217&height=153&name=VIP15FtHood-_055-large.jpg "SGT Howard Nash") SGT Howard Nash is headed to Harrisburg, PA, to affiliate with Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 520. ![Gail Pilecki](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/images/VIP15FtHood-_038.jpg "Gail Pilecki") ![Gail Pilecki](https://www.uavip.org/hs-fs/hubfs/images/VIP15FtHood-_038-large.jpg?width=153&height=217&name=VIP15FtHood-_038-large.jpg "Gail Pilecki") Gail Pilecki was so proud of her son, SGT Jeremy Pilecki, on graduation day. SGT Pilecki will make his home in Houston, affiliating with Pipefitters Local 211. ![William Davidson](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/images/VIP15FtHood-_017.jpg "William Davidson") ![William Davidson](https://www.uavip.org/hs-fs/hubfs/images/VIP15FtHood-_017-large.jpg?width=217&height=153&name=VIP15FtHood-_017-large.jpg "William Davidson") 1SG William Davidson gave the graduate testimonial. He will remain with his family in Waco, TX, affiliating with Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 529 in Waco, TX. ![Michael Olsen](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/Photo_Gallery_/VIP15FtHood-_077_sm.jpg "Michael Olsen") ![Michael Olsen](https://www.uavip.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Photo_Gallery_/VIP15FtHood-_077_large.jpg?width=153&height=217&name=VIP15FtHood-_077_large.jpg "Michael Olsen") SFC Michael Olsen and his wife, Amanda, will remain in the area, affiliating with Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 529 in Waco, TX. ![SPC Chad Eberle](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/Photo_Gallery_/VIP15FtHood-_032_sm.jpg "SPC Chad Eberle") ![SPC Chad Eberle](https://www.uavip.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Photo_Gallery_/VIP15FtHood-_032_large.jpg?width=153&height=217&name=VIP15FtHood-_032_large.jpg "SPC Chad Eberle") Alysa and SPC Chad Eberle will be heading to San Antonio, TX, with Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 142. ![SGT Lawrence Beller](https://www.uavip.org/hubfs/Photo_Gallery_/VIP15FtHood-_070_sm.jpg "SGT Lawrence Beller") ![SGT Lawrence Beller](https://www.uavip.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Photo_Gallery_/VIP15FtHood-_070_large.jpg?width=153&height=217&name=VIP15FtHood-_070_large.jpg "SGT Lawrence Beller") SGT Lawrence Beller, his wife, Brittney, and daughter, Nahla, will be making Houston, TX, their home, affiliating with Pipefitters Local 211. Mouse over thumbnails to view larger videos and photos or view entire [Gallery](https://www.uavip.org/media-gallery). ## News & Happenings ##### [More News & Happenings](https://www.uavip.org/news-happenings) ## faq FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS We’re sure you have lots of questions about the VIP Program. A lot of these questions can be answered in our FAQ area. Click the button below to learn more. [faq](https://www.uavip.org/faq) --- ## Video and Photo Gallery Take a [look](https://www-uavip-org.sandbox.hs-sites.com/media-gallery) at everything the VIP program is doing for our returning veterans — through videos and photos. [Gallery](https://www.uavip.org/media-gallery) --- ## News & Happenings [News](https://www.uavip.org/news-happenings)