WEBVTT 00:02.849 --> 00:03.849 That 00:10.380 --> 00:12.547 team Norfolk Naval Shipyard . I'm here 00:12.547 --> 00:15.229 today to visit code 926 the weld shop 00:15.630 --> 00:18.159 in an era of metal ships . Somebody has 00:18.170 --> 00:20.337 to stick all those pieces together and 00:20.337 --> 00:22.503 that's what the welders do . I'm going 00:22.503 --> 00:24.559 to go visit some apprentices all the 00:24.559 --> 00:26.781 way to master craftsman and learn about 00:26.781 --> 00:28.948 who they are , what they do , how they 00:28.948 --> 00:31.114 do it and maybe I might even get to do 00:31.114 --> 00:33.226 a little welding myself . All right . 00:33.226 --> 00:35.337 Come on , join me . Let's go see what 00:35.337 --> 00:34.360 happens . 00:42.680 --> 00:44.791 I'm here with Robie . So nice to meet 00:44.791 --> 00:46.958 you . Nice to meet you too . So , tell 00:46.958 --> 00:49.069 me a little about yourself . How long 00:49.069 --> 00:48.119 have you been at the shipyard ? Where 00:48.130 --> 00:50.186 did you come from ? I've been at the 00:50.186 --> 00:52.352 shipyard for eight years . I came from 00:52.352 --> 00:54.297 a contracting company called circa 00:54.297 --> 00:56.519 there . I was a general laborer , but I 00:56.519 --> 00:58.519 use that as a stepping stone to get 00:58.519 --> 01:00.408 into the yard . So I came in as a 01:00.408 --> 01:02.574 helper to worker trainee and I've been 01:02.574 --> 01:04.686 doing ever since I'm a WG 10 mechanic 01:04.686 --> 01:06.741 now though . That's fantastic . So , 01:06.741 --> 01:08.963 what attracted you to Welding ? Why did 01:08.963 --> 01:08.245 you want to be a welder ? It just 01:08.254 --> 01:10.476 looked cool . It looked uh I know a lot 01:10.476 --> 01:12.404 of females don't weld and it just 01:12.415 --> 01:14.471 looked cool . Simple answer . That's 01:14.471 --> 01:17.974 great . I see Welding as an art . So , 01:17.985 --> 01:19.985 uh , do you see the same ? I mean , 01:19.985 --> 01:22.440 there's a lot of , I would say and I 01:22.449 --> 01:24.870 can't draw . So if that's my only way 01:24.879 --> 01:26.990 that I can create like physical art . 01:26.990 --> 01:29.046 Men . Yeah , for sure . I mean , you 01:29.046 --> 01:28.930 could definitely make it look pretty 01:28.940 --> 01:31.107 and that's what I strive for and set . 01:31.107 --> 01:33.279 There you go . Fantastic . So tell me 01:33.290 --> 01:35.401 you started a helper to work or I did 01:35.401 --> 01:37.623 and then tell me about how you learn to 01:37.623 --> 01:39.734 be a welder . How did that ? How does 01:39.734 --> 01:41.846 that program work ? Well , we have an 01:41.846 --> 01:43.846 excellent welding school . So Brian 01:43.846 --> 01:46.068 Elton and Lamont over there , uh really 01:46.068 --> 01:48.179 helped me out . They really taught me 01:48.179 --> 01:50.234 how to learn as well as CTD area . I 01:50.234 --> 01:52.346 learned from scratch . I had no prior 01:52.346 --> 01:54.179 welding experience and I learned 01:54.179 --> 01:56.179 everything I I know from them . And 01:56.179 --> 01:58.012 obviously your real practice and 01:58.012 --> 02:00.234 learning is going to come from being on 02:00.234 --> 02:02.234 the boat . So do you spend a lot of 02:02.234 --> 02:04.234 time in this area practicing or you 02:04.234 --> 02:06.290 haven't a lot of time ? So they give 02:06.290 --> 02:05.540 you time to practice and then you move 02:05.550 --> 02:07.717 on to getting your Qs and once you get 02:07.717 --> 02:10.050 your Qs , they send you out to the boat . 02:10.050 --> 02:12.050 That's great . What , what makes uh 02:12.050 --> 02:11.589 your profession exciting and 02:11.600 --> 02:14.559 interesting . Well , being on the boat , 02:14.570 --> 02:16.792 you're going to be Welding in all kinds 02:16.792 --> 02:18.681 of different positions . Some are 02:18.681 --> 02:20.792 challenging . But when you , when you 02:20.792 --> 02:22.626 do a good weld and it's set in a 02:22.626 --> 02:22.160 challenging position , there's just 02:22.169 --> 02:24.391 something satisfying about that and you 02:24.391 --> 02:26.447 feel proud of yourself . What do you 02:26.447 --> 02:28.502 recommend anybody that wants to be a 02:28.502 --> 02:30.613 welder or is thinking about welding ? 02:30.613 --> 02:30.479 Oh , dude , it's awesome . Obviously 02:30.490 --> 02:32.770 say wear your respirator . Um If you 02:32.779 --> 02:34.946 don't mind getting , if you don't mind 02:34.946 --> 02:37.057 being bent all out of shape in some , 02:37.057 --> 02:39.223 in some cases , it , it , it's a great 02:39.223 --> 02:41.168 job . It's satisfying and you feel 02:41.168 --> 02:43.501 really productive by the end of the day . 02:43.501 --> 02:45.446 That's great . I'll tell you we're 02:45.446 --> 02:47.501 really proud of what you do and what 02:47.501 --> 02:49.668 your peers do too because that welding 02:49.668 --> 02:52.589 our ships would fall apart . All right . 02:52.789 --> 02:54.800 All right . So let's , let's walk , 02:54.809 --> 02:56.698 walk around and tell me about the 02:56.698 --> 02:58.753 school here . What , what happens up 02:58.753 --> 03:00.976 here ? Ok . So right through this way , 03:00.976 --> 03:03.087 you've already seen our take school . 03:03.087 --> 03:05.198 So through this door here is where we 03:05.198 --> 03:07.420 actually perform our S MA W process and 03:07.420 --> 03:10.080 GTAW process on this side . Here on 03:10.089 --> 03:13.649 your left . I have about 10 and 12 03:13.679 --> 03:15.790 make booths . We went through all our 03:15.790 --> 03:18.210 make updates , qualification , renewal , 03:19.039 --> 03:22.029 different , different materials that 03:22.100 --> 03:24.211 all happens on this rule right here . 03:24.211 --> 03:27.419 Ok . So every day you have people in 03:27.429 --> 03:29.429 here , right , every day coming and 03:29.429 --> 03:31.429 going every day on a daily , weekly 03:31.429 --> 03:33.540 basis . And are people , do they stay 03:33.540 --> 03:33.529 up here for several days at a time or 03:33.539 --> 03:35.706 is it like they're in here for a day ? 03:35.706 --> 03:37.983 They do something and they go back out , 03:37.983 --> 03:37.550 typically they stay for a few days at a 03:37.559 --> 03:39.392 time , depending on what they're 03:39.392 --> 03:41.337 getting . If they're getting a few 03:41.337 --> 03:43.559 different qualifications in this area , 03:43.559 --> 03:45.559 they may stay for a week , they may 03:45.559 --> 03:47.615 stay for a month . It all depends on 03:47.615 --> 03:49.392 what day . Ok . Yeah . So we'll 03:49.392 --> 03:53.169 progress up front here on this 03:53.179 --> 03:56.160 side . Here is my , is my S MA W 03:56.169 --> 03:59.979 process . We have this 03:59.990 --> 04:03.589 one aisle . There are 1234 , about 04:03.600 --> 04:07.169 12 boots on this side and 12 boots on 04:07.179 --> 04:10.089 the next aisle . Ok . Uh , this 04:10.100 --> 04:12.699 actually my apprentices that first come 04:12.710 --> 04:14.654 in the shipyard . Once they finish 04:14.654 --> 04:16.766 their boot camp , they come over here 04:16.766 --> 04:19.299 to get their first qualification . And 04:19.309 --> 04:23.109 this is one of my lead . Uh , probably 04:23.130 --> 04:24.963 depends on person by person . It 04:24.963 --> 04:26.908 definitely depends on the world of 04:26.908 --> 04:29.019 skill , but uh I would say a good two 04:29.019 --> 04:31.352 months to get their first . Yeah . Yeah , 04:31.809 --> 04:33.865 we try to make sure they get as much 04:33.865 --> 04:36.031 practice time as they need before they 04:36.031 --> 04:38.365 actually qualify . Ok . Fantastic . Yes , 04:38.365 --> 04:40.420 sir . Yes , sir . So we can actually 04:40.420 --> 04:42.309 head to the left here to exit the 04:42.309 --> 04:45.750 school . So once you enter the hallway 04:45.760 --> 04:48.093 here , you'll see one of our classrooms . 04:48.093 --> 04:50.459 We have three classrooms spread down 04:50.470 --> 04:52.809 the hallway . There's classroom time 04:52.880 --> 04:54.991 too . I mean , actually like studying 04:54.991 --> 04:57.158 time and yes sir , we have about 10 to 04:57.158 --> 04:59.436 15 academic courses . Where we have to , 04:59.436 --> 05:01.547 they have to qualify for the academic 05:01.547 --> 05:03.602 courses before they come over to the 05:03.602 --> 05:05.690 school . So it's not all practical . 05:05.700 --> 05:07.922 It's actually , yes , sir . It's all in 05:07.922 --> 05:10.119 house training . We try to be as self 05:10.130 --> 05:11.908 sufficient as possible with the 05:11.908 --> 05:13.797 academic and practical training . 05:24.380 --> 05:26.491 Nice to meet you . Good to meet you . 05:26.491 --> 05:28.269 Hey , so tell me a little about 05:28.269 --> 05:27.859 yourself . How long have you been in 05:27.869 --> 05:29.980 the shipyard ? And where did you come 05:29.980 --> 05:32.091 from ? And I came from uh new for new 05:32.091 --> 05:34.500 shipyard . Uh I've been here this year , 05:34.510 --> 05:37.779 October 21st being 11 years , I started 05:37.799 --> 05:40.170 out as a welder , uh made work leader 05:40.420 --> 05:42.529 supervisor and now I'm an instructor 05:42.829 --> 05:44.662 teaching all these are , this is 05:44.662 --> 05:46.885 getting them up to speed so they can go 05:46.885 --> 05:49.051 up to school and get their clothes and 05:49.051 --> 05:51.535 come back to me and be assisted and 05:51.545 --> 05:53.712 hopefully go out on the waterfront and 05:53.712 --> 05:55.823 be able to weld on themselves and get 05:55.823 --> 05:58.695 them back out on time so that we can 05:58.704 --> 06:01.135 battle what we need about . That's what 06:01.144 --> 06:03.255 attracted you to welding . Why do you 06:03.255 --> 06:05.533 want to be a welder ? Well , I started , 06:05.533 --> 06:07.866 I started in high school all four years . 06:07.866 --> 06:10.359 I got real good then . Uh my instructor 06:10.369 --> 06:12.440 used to get me out of my 11 or 12th 06:12.480 --> 06:14.647 grade year to teach my ninth graders . 06:14.647 --> 06:16.813 And so it was a whole turnover event . 06:16.813 --> 06:18.869 Now I'm right back in here doing the 06:18.869 --> 06:20.980 same thing I did in high school . And 06:20.980 --> 06:23.091 now I love teaching it and I , I love 06:23.091 --> 06:24.869 welding out there . It was just 06:24.869 --> 06:26.980 something about being able to go work 06:26.980 --> 06:29.147 on them serves and , and , and carry , 06:29.147 --> 06:31.258 you know , just to make sure that I'm 06:31.258 --> 06:33.746 putting out a great w so when they go 06:33.756 --> 06:35.978 out , they'll be able to come back in . 06:35.978 --> 06:37.955 That's fantastic . So , you're an 06:37.966 --> 06:40.265 instructor here . How many students do 06:40.276 --> 06:42.855 you have at any one time ? But this is 06:42.865 --> 06:45.175 the most of our here . I have 60 . I 06:45.186 --> 06:47.876 have 17 now , but 16 in this area and 06:47.885 --> 06:49.996 two of them in the mock up area . But 06:49.996 --> 06:51.996 this is most of our head since I've 06:51.996 --> 06:54.163 been in this office . It's pretty busy 06:54.252 --> 06:57.261 all day . So what are , what are the 06:57.272 --> 06:59.105 apprentices doing here ? They do 06:59.105 --> 07:00.939 practicing ? Are you giving them 07:00.939 --> 07:02.939 instruction ? It kind of everything 07:02.939 --> 07:05.105 they start from scratch . Some of them 07:05.105 --> 07:07.272 never welded before . So I take it and 07:07.272 --> 07:06.932 teach them how to weld . So when they 07:06.941 --> 07:09.108 go to weld school , they can get their 07:09.108 --> 07:11.274 QS faster and come back to me and then 07:11.274 --> 07:13.497 I assess them with everything that they 07:13.497 --> 07:15.497 did before they left . So they'd be 07:15.497 --> 07:17.663 graded after they come back after they 07:17.663 --> 07:19.663 get the 1111 . So , so how long are 07:19.663 --> 07:19.589 they in here with you in here ? 10 07:19.600 --> 07:21.489 weeks , we call it boot camp . 10 07:21.529 --> 07:23.640 minute boot camp . You get them up to 07:23.640 --> 07:25.862 speed and the ones that can get their Q 07:25.862 --> 07:27.807 can get it everything we give them 07:27.807 --> 07:30.029 faster . They get their qualities for . 07:30.029 --> 07:32.196 We , we absolutely appreciate what you 07:32.196 --> 07:34.251 do and I'm , uh , I'm impressed with 07:34.251 --> 07:36.418 all this going on . You can keep track 07:36.418 --> 07:38.251 of everything here . So I really 07:38.251 --> 07:38.170 appreciate it . Thank you very much for 07:38.179 --> 07:40.346 your time and I love what you do and I 07:40.346 --> 07:42.589 love your trade and , uh , looking 07:42.600 --> 07:44.544 forward to you to many great these 07:44.544 --> 07:46.544 apprentices are gonna do because of 07:46.544 --> 07:48.822 because of you . Yes , sir . Thank you . 07:48.822 --> 07:48.285 All right . Awesome . Thank you for 07:48.295 --> 07:51.265 your service . Just the down focus . So 07:51.274 --> 07:53.274 you cool the puddle slowly . If you 07:53.274 --> 07:55.385 cool it too fast , you can crack it . 07:55.385 --> 07:57.496 You got it and then you plug it again 07:57.496 --> 07:57.404 and turn it off . I can run a bead and 07:57.415 --> 07:59.193 show you sure that'd be great . 08:01.579 --> 08:04.390 Hold the toes on each side . Make sure 08:04.399 --> 08:05.621 they burn any nicer . 08:08.369 --> 08:10.380 All right , how nice . 08:17.290 --> 08:20.269 All right . Yeah , that's probably the 08:20.279 --> 08:22.769 gist of it . It takes years . He made 08:22.779 --> 08:23.779 it look easy . 08:27.429 --> 08:29.596 Well , Jason , thank you very much for 08:29.596 --> 08:31.262 your time today . So I really 08:31.262 --> 08:33.207 appreciate , I got to go see these 08:33.207 --> 08:34.873 apprentices . Uh , you know , 08:34.873 --> 08:37.040 journeymen are out practicing . I do a 08:37.040 --> 08:39.151 little bit of welding myself here . I 08:39.151 --> 08:41.262 really appreciate it . So , tell me a 08:41.262 --> 08:43.318 little bit about the code in general 08:43.318 --> 08:45.596 though . So 926 is a amazing workforce . 08:45.596 --> 08:47.596 It's probably the my favorite place 08:47.596 --> 08:49.540 I've ever been in the shipyard and 08:49.540 --> 08:51.762 hands down this group has been the most 08:51.762 --> 08:53.707 diverse and amazing group that has 08:53.707 --> 08:55.929 really carried me through a whole bunch 08:55.929 --> 08:58.096 because I would be lost without them . 08:58.096 --> 09:00.318 And to be honest , our shop has some of 09:00.318 --> 09:02.429 the most amazing people I've ever met 09:02.429 --> 09:02.002 in my time at the shipyard . So I'm 09:02.012 --> 09:04.411 extremely happy to have you here and to 09:04.421 --> 09:06.699 show you what amazing stuff we do here . 09:06.699 --> 09:08.810 Well , they are truly artisans when I 09:08.810 --> 09:10.921 tried it over there , that two handed 09:10.921 --> 09:12.921 thing that doesn't work , don't you 09:12.921 --> 09:15.032 looked about like I do when I do it . 09:15.032 --> 09:17.088 It's great . So tell me I've heard a 09:17.088 --> 09:19.088 little bit about this battle of the 09:19.088 --> 09:21.032 welders coming up . What is this ? 09:21.032 --> 09:23.254 Absolutely . So every , so this will be 09:23.254 --> 09:25.421 our third time doing it . Every year . 09:25.421 --> 09:25.273 We get together our stick group and 09:25.283 --> 09:27.339 which is more of our structural guys 09:27.339 --> 09:29.394 and our T group , which are more our 09:29.394 --> 09:31.394 piping guys and they perform a very 09:31.394 --> 09:33.616 difficult complex weld and then we have 09:33.616 --> 09:35.839 a judging panel that judges it and then 09:35.839 --> 09:37.839 the winner uh earn a cash award and 09:37.839 --> 09:37.616 then , you know , the 2nd and 3rd place 09:37.625 --> 09:39.847 earned some bragging rights and then uh 09:39.847 --> 09:42.069 all in all , we put it up on a poster , 09:42.069 --> 09:44.236 we show around the shop , it gives you 09:44.236 --> 09:46.403 the not only the bragging rights , but 09:46.403 --> 09:46.125 yeah , definitely a big cash reward . 09:46.135 --> 09:48.357 That's nice . That's fantastic . Well , 09:48.357 --> 09:50.302 I'm looking forward to that , so I 09:50.302 --> 09:52.524 really appreciate you . Appreciate your 09:52.524 --> 09:51.945 time . I appreciate it . Thank you 09:51.955 --> 09:54.122 folks . They're doing great things and 09:54.122 --> 09:56.344 uh looking forward to more great things 09:56.344 --> 09:56.885 to come . Definitely . Thank you , sir .