A Natural Fit

THE HELMETS TO HARDHATS PROGRAM WAS CONCEIVED IN 2001 by Canadian boilermaker Joseph Maloney, then secretary-treasurer of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, who met retired U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Matthew P. Caulfield at a conference. They began talking about the natural fit between military and construction work and decided to form a kind of partnership (Maloney is now setting up a similar program in Canada). "It took us a while to set up how the logistics would work," Maloney says. "But once we got the basic idea on how we wanted to do it, we went to the general presidents of the building trades, and they all automatically said: This is wonderful; let's run with it."

Politicians also sing the program's praises. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), who spent 37 years with the Marines, has been the program's biggest champion, pushing through an initial $3.4 million congressional appropriation in 2003. Many states have passed resolutions recognizing Helmets to Hardhats and allowing preferences for veterans seeking apprenticeships.

The Helmets organization is still working out some kinks. The staff had trouble tracking the success of the program during the first few years, and an unknown number of ex-military personnel seek out construction apprenticeships without Helmets' direct help, confusing counts from the field. Meanwhile, with the economy weak, people exiting the military face the same uncertain employment prospects as civilians.

Some construction industry insiders believe they're at least moderately insulated from the dire financial forecasts. "When you hear about construction slowing down, it's the housing market," says Helmets' executive director, Darrell Roberts, a sheet metal worker by trade who was in the Navy for four years and the National Guard for six. "Commercial and industrial construction is actually booming." A new federal report estimates that repairing the country's crumbling transportation infrastructure alone -- bridges and highways -- will cost $225 billion a year for the next 50 years.

Helmets' budget, however, is not insulated from financial concerns. When Congress agreed to cut earmarks by 50 percent last year, Helmets' funding was slashed by 80 percent, from about $5 million in 2007 to $990,000 in 2008. Roberts says leftover funds are keeping the nonprofit afloat, "but if we can't find a way to reenact our funding, then we'll be in trouble in 2009."

That would disappoint O'Bier, the Steamfitters' training director. The construction industry is eager for good workers, he says, and military men and women almost always fall in that category. "They just have a different work ethic than our Gen-X and -Y kids that come straight out of high school," O'Bier says. "Even if they're the lowest person on the food chain, [the students with military training] know that they need to show up, to do the work. They know that they're valuable."

Christina Ianzito is a contributing writer at the Magazine. She can be reached at christinaianzito@yahoo.com.