Forged Through Friendship

BREMERTON, WA, UNITED STATES

03.31.2022

Story by Adrienne Burns  

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility

Jeremy Stephens is many things. He is a father, a fiancé — even a three-time Kitsap County cornhole champion. But, for most of the folks at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility, he is the trade superintendent for Shop 11/17, Shipfitters, Forge and Sheetmetal. At one point, however, he was just a 16-year-old high school junior at Wilson High in Tacoma, Washington, working a newspaper route, trying to figure out his career path. With a friend joining the Marine Corps—and leaning in that direction himself—Stephens heard that representatives from PSNS & IMF would be visiting his school to talk about the Work Study Program at the shipyard, and he decided to go hear what they had to say.
It would be the start of a journey that’s lasted more than 20 years.
Dave Hagen and Bryan Watland, from the sheetmetal and shipfitter trades, supported hiring for the Work Study Program and were the representatives that day at Stephens’ high school. They gave the whole rundown of benefits: life insurance, health insurance, retirement, and a how the shipyard had been a cornerstone of the community for more than 100 years. Stephens saw a future with an established organization, a steady paycheck, and a career where he could build a skill. By the end of the presentation, Stephens said he knew this was the path he wanted to pursue. He waited until the room cleared out after the presentation to approach Hagen.
“I remember everything about it,” Stephens said. “He was wearing a striped shirt and he was shuffling some papers and I waited for him to turn around. I like to think that was one of those key moments in my life. I shook Dave Hagen’s hand and said ‘Hey, man, I really appreciate this because this really gave me something to go work toward.’”
And that’s exactly what Stephens did.
When the job announcement opened, Stephens submitted the resume he’d cobbled together from his limited experience and was shocked when he found out he'd landed an interview. Having a strained relationship with his father, Stephens reached out to his boss at the newspaper, to share the news with him. His boss quickly assessed the incredible opportunity Stephens had, and provided him with shoes, pants, a button-up shirt and even pre-tied Stephens’ tie for him so that he wouldn’t have to figure it out the day of his interview. Then he sat Stephens down and gave him some interviewing tips before sending him off. It would be just one of the many kindnesses Stephens would encounter as he entered his new career—and something he would carry with him through the years.
“I still use some of those interview techniques to this day when I’m helping people prepare for interviews,” Stephens said. “It had a major impact on my life.”
Hagen and Watland, who had come to Wilson High and given the initial presentation about the work study program, were also the ones interviewing Stephens. As with most interviews in a young person’s life, Stephens said he immediately forgot everything he’d practiced. Even still, he remained confident. So he waited.
“The next thing you know, there was this huge packet in the mail. So, I was able to accept the offer, and make my way into the Work Study Program in 2001,” he said.
In the summer between his junior and senior year and during the second semester of his senior year, he came to the shipyard every day for work, rotating through Shop 11, Shipfitter, Shop 17, Sheetmetal, Shop 38, Marine Machinery Mechanics and Shop 51, Electricians. He was thrilled to be making money while his friends were at school. After graduation, with his high school credits complete, he was able to be hired on as a Helper at the shipyard.
Stephens continued to look for opportunities at the shipyard. He started to think about college. He couldn’t recall a single person in his family who’d gone to college, and when he saw the Apprentice Program, he saw a way to fulfill that goal for himself.
“To be the first one in my small, close-knit family to be able to say I went to college — I told myself, ‘I’m gonna go do that,” he said.
In 2003, just two years after he was initially hired into the shipyard as a work study, Stephens entered the Apprentice Program’s Class of 2007. His personal ambition, combined with the number of opportunities available to him, was setting him up for success in ways he wouldn’t recognize until much later.
“I learned really quickly—because I had the right people in my life at the right time—that if I went and sought out some of these opportunities, it would open up even more doors for me,” Stephens said.
It was advice he took to heart and it highlighted one thing Stephens hadn’t really considered when he first thought about joining the shipyard: the relationships he would build. In contrast to everything he initially joined PSNS & IMF for—the benefits and career skills—what has impacted Stephens the most and what he has valued the most during his career are the people he’s gone through this journey with.
“If I really think back about the apprenticeship, it’s really about the relationships you have and forge through those four years,” Stephens said.
One of those key relationships was with Kent Burton, non-nuclear director, Shop 11/17, who was Stephens’ apprentice instructor. His guidance shaped Stephens.
“I really attribute a ton of who I am today to who he is,” Stephens said. “He taught me that if you focus on the little things, the big things take care of themselves. A lot of people who went through his classes are leaders in the shipyard today.”
While Stephens can certainly say he learned the skills he was looking for through the Apprentice Program, he said the most important part of the program was having a collective group to work on problems together and reach an end goal.
“It’s not just about learning your trade. There’s more to it than that,” Stephens said. “I’m truly fulfilled in what I do, to this day. Our job here is second to none.”
And while he spends his days doing a job he loves, with people he cares about, he is also looking to return some of the kindness, guidance and mentorship that was shown to him at every stage in his career. The values and leadership skills he learned as an apprentice, help define who he is. Jeremy Stephens is many things — but, most notably, he is PSNS & IMF.

This story originally appeared on page 6 of the March 31, 2022 issue of Salute.

• Date Taken: 03.31.2022
• Date Posted: 12.22.2022 17:35
• Story ID: 435810
• Location: BREMERTON, WA, US