Matthew Marchese joined the Marine Corps in 2012, right out of high school. Like many students in their senior year of high school, he didn’t know what he wanted to do after graduation, so he decided to follow in his brother’s footsteps and became a rifleman for the Marines. He was deployed to the Pacific twice, and fortunately, he did not see combat on either deployment.
In January 2020, at the time of the interview, Matt was a fourth-year apprentice with Enterprise Association of Steamfitters Local 638 in New York City and Long Island, NY. He heard about the VIP program from his brother who went through the program and is also a Local 638 member. “After he told me all about Local 638, the work he’d been doing, and the VIP program, I was on board,” Matt said. “When I was in bootcamp, my brother was going through the program, which I didn’t know anything about yet, so pretty early on, the VIP program was in the back of my mind. Once I decided I wasn’t going to re-enlist, I started looking into it and took the right steps by contacting the right people.”
Matt was taking a 3D laser scanning training course at the time of the interview. As part of the training course, Matt was able to practice using the Faro® laser scanner on the USS Intrepid, one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. He was asked by the di-rector of his apprenticeship program to attend this course, and with no hesitation, Matt took advantage of the opportunity presented to him. He said, “When he asked me, I jumped on board to learn something new. It’s very interesting , and hopefully I get to use it in the field someday. I want to get as much training under my belt as possible whenever it’s provided to me.”
During his apprenticeship, Matt has been working for mechanical contractor Manhattan Mechanical, servicing the HVACR (heating, ventilation, air conditioning , and refrigeration) in tenant buildings in New York City. “I’m in the field five days a week,” he said. “It’s nice because it’s a small shop, so you get to put your hands on every part of the job.”
Matt lives in New Jersey, where he recently bought his first home. He attributes his comfortable lifestyle to the UA and the VIP program. He said, “I want to thank the UA for making a program like the VIP program, which gave me an opportunity to live a good life back home.” He thanked his instructors in the VIP program, stating, “My three main instructors, Billy Platt, Mike Cummings, and Dave Porter, all really helped me to establish a good foundation in those initial few months.”
This United Association Veterans In Piping Success Story was originally printed in the CareerOps: Career Opportunities in Piping for Transitioning Veterans Spring/Summer 2021 edition.
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