Apprentices learn tools of the trade

JORDAN RENNARD, AN apprentice at Trident Refit Facility, welds tool inserts. Rennard became an apprentice through the co-op program at Camden County High School. Each summer, 25 students work full-time at the facility, rotating to a different shop every two weeks. (Special to the Tribune & Georgian)

 BY JOHNA STRICKLAND RUSH (Tribune and Georgian) 

Two years ago, Jessica Braddock lost her job. She wanted a change from working dead-end jobs while attending college, she decided.

“I needed a career,” she said. “I was tired of working side jobs.”

She applied for Trident Refit Facility’s apprentice program at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base.  Now halfway through her training as a rubber and plastic fabricator, Braddock has married and started a family.

“I could have never done any of that without the benefits in general,” she said. “Even just the job itself.”

The facility, whose personnel manufacture parts for and repair the Ohio-class submarines stationed at Kings Bay, employs 1,334 civilians and 288 active duty military members.

Each year, a new group of apprentices agrees to a four-year commitment of classroom and hands-on training in one of 21 trades. The 2011 application period
opens Monday and closes Friday, March 4. Many of those accepted have no experience in their trade.

“It’s made a world of difference,” Braddock said. “I didn’t have to know anything to get in there.”

Thirty-five will be hired. About 850 people applied in 2010, 510 passed the tests and 105 interviewed for 35 spots.

“It’s very competitive,” said apprentice program administrator Tim Wolfe.

Some applicants learn about the refit facility through Camden County High School’s co-op program, which places 25 students in a summer program where they rotate shops every two weeks and work full-time.

When Jordan Rennard, the production apprentice of the year, came through the co-op, students attended class for half of the day, then spent the rest at TRF. More than three years ago, he became a welding apprentice, his first-choice trade.

“I saw these commercials on a welding school and I was curious about what it actually was,” he said, adding he also enjoyed working on cars and wanted to use welding skills in that hobby.

As Rennard finished high school, he lacked a clear idea of what he wanted to be. He knew people who had obtained degrees but not jobs. His parents
talked to him about the apprentice program.

“It changed my life,” he said. “Because right out of school I thought I should go to college like everybody else. I was unsure about it and they pointed
me in the right direction.”

The program begins with a two-week indoctrination into the command before the apprentices head to Altamaha Technical College. For a year, they rotate from five weeks of full-time classes—math, English, science, drafting, metallurgy—to five weeks of work at TRF. Each apprentice receives free schooling and training.

They also enroll in certificate programs for a specific trade. After the first year,most work full-time at TRF. Those in machining, electrical and mechanics attend school into the third year.

More experienced workers continue training the apprentices in the shops, one of Rennard’s favorite aspects.

“Everyone around you wants to train you and help you out,” he said. “If you have a question, you can ask anyone. I like how dependable (the job) is. I’m not going to get laid off.”

Braddock loves learning about the base and TRF while repairing submarines.

“And things I can do to make sure it goes out and comes back,” she said. “I work on cables and parts of the submarine that come off and come back to our shop. It’s really neat and interesting.”

Both Rennard and Braddock intend to stay when their four-year commitment ends. Rennard wants to learn about planning and engineering. Eventually, Braddock also hopes to be in planning, where jobs are allotted to shops.

“I would like to get my hands in lots of different places before I get there,” she said. “I want Tim’s job.”

Wolfe was once an apprentice, too. He started at a Washington base as an equipment cleaner, scrubbing tanks from the inside and shoveling sand in the dry dock. Lacking the desire to do that job longterm, Wolfe apprenticed in sheet metal.

“I had goals,” he said. “I didn’t want to remain a sheet metal mechanic.”

He transferred to TRF in 1989, four years after the facility was organized and just as the first submarine and machines were arriving. The apprentice program altered his life “quite a bit.”

“I have gray hair now. No, it’s been good,” he said, jokingly. “I learned responsibility and dedication to what I wanted to do for my career. Now that I’m in administration I see that in the young people we’re hiring.”

Wolfe likes seeing people who graduated five years ago moving into management positions.  In 2006, six apprentices graduated from the four-year program. The number doubles to 12 in 2011 and jumps to 85 graduates in 2012.  The facility employees about 200 apprentices, though it may fall to 150 in the future.

By March, 270 facility employees will be eligible for retirement. Seven will have retired by July. Within five years, the number of eligible retirees rises to 627. The actual number of retirees depends on the economy, Wolfe said. Many will stay for the income.

“I’m one of those numbers, but I’m not going anywhere,” Wolfe said.