If a person wants to be a welder, enlisting in the Navy and going through their welding program would be a great way to learn a trade. Their welding school ain't no joke!
Follow that up with dive school and you would have endless job possibilities.
We had guys who did that, and couldn't weld for schitt. I have no idea what the Navy teaches their welders, but every Navy welder I've ever come into contact with has been a terrible welder. Also, it seems like the military hires contractors to do all of the serious work, and not small and fast repairs. I've worked at Aberdeen Proving Grounds and at NSF Dahlgren, and all of the welders and machinists were civilians. I want to add that I am not King of the Welders by any stretch of the imagination, but I have been around long enough to know what a good welder (weldor) looks like. Most of the Union welders I've met could weld a diiiikc to a snowman. I have absolutely no idea what a Union welding program looks like, but it must be pretty great because those dudes are no joke. And their pay is no joke too.
