Army Engineer uses Millwright Skills to Help Rebuild the Middle East

The Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters is proud to work with our nation’s military veterans. Veterans like Local 1090’s SSG Jamie Arthur, who is currently stationed overseas with the Army’s 486th Engineer Company out of Monclova, Ohio.

SSG Arthur is using skills learned as a UBC Millwright to build relocatable buildings, essentially connex container housing units. His work helps give more housing options to military and civilians who work in the Middle East.

He sent the following update to his union reps and the training center:

“First I would like to thank the UBC for working with the Helmets to Hardhats program to give me the opportunity to participate in the Millwrights apprenticeship, which allowed me to learn a trade that I could make a career out of. It also allowed me to learn skills that I could take back to my Army Reserve Engineer unit and utilize these skills overseas to make a difference. Second, I’d like to thank Dave Schultz for teaching me these skills. Thanks again. Have a Happy New Years and I’ll see you this summer when I redo my welding test. Thanks again for your support.

A huge thanks to SSG Arthur for his service and dedication to our country and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. You inspire us.

SSG Arthur is part of the IKORCC’s Helmets to Hardhats program. Helmets to Hardhats is a national, nonprofit program that connects National Guard, Reserve, retired and transitioning active-duty military service members with skilled training and quality career opportunities in the construction industry. The program is designed to help military service members successfully transition back into civilian life by offering them the means to secure a quality career in the construction industry.

This year the IKORCC had over 400 Helmets to Hardhats veterans working on their apprenticeships at training centers across Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.