No, we’re not talking about not insects, nor the Protestants.  These are the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) who served during WWII (the first to ever do so) — right alongside the Rosies who helped build the planes in which they flew!

Female WWII aviators honored with gold medal

By KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – A long-overlooked group of women who flew aircraft during World War II were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on Wednesday.

Known as Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, they were the first women to fly U.S. military planes.

About 200 of these women aviators, mostly in their late 80s and early 90s and some in wheelchairs, came to the Capitol to accept the medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress.

In thanking them for their service, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said these women pilots went unrecognized for too long.

“Women Air Force Service Pilots, we are all your daughters, you taught us how to fly,” Pelosi said.

In accepting the award, WASP pilot Deanie Parrish said the women had volunteered to fly the planes without expectation that they would ever be thanked. Their mission was to fly noncombat missions to free up male pilots to fly overseas.

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Who’s to say what jobs are “normal” for women to have and what aren’t?  So what if they’re “non-traditional”?

Once upon it was neither “normal” nor “traditional” for women to even wear pants, and look where that’s got us!  You go girls!

Looking for “non-traditional” work

Posted: Feb 17, 2010 2:42 PM PST
By Heather Sawaski

WAUSAU (WAOW) — Jobs in the trade industry took a hard hit during the economic downturn. But experts predict job creation to pick up soon, especially for workers in “non-traditional” roles.

A program at Northcentral Technical College in Wausau is designed to help get students past the stereotype. The Non-Traditional Occupations Program at NTC helps students achieve success in roles typically filled by the opposite gender.

Brenda Cichon is welding student at NTC. She enrolled in the program with her husband after they were both laid off last year.

“The government is helping us by funding us and paying for us to go back to school,” she explained. “So we were happy to come back to NTC and join a program that was good for both of us.”

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Our favorite quote from Shauna’s introduction to her life as a welder would have to be: “I think at the end of the day, if your face and hands are covered in dirt, it’s been a great and productive day.”

We quite agree with you on that!  Read on to find out more about this welder chic!

My name is Shauna Rae Hall and I am currently living in Calgary, Alberta Canada.  I work at a company called NGC Compression Solutions.  I am one of the four certified Journeyman red seal welders working in the fabrication shop at the moment.

My hobbies include camping, dirt biking, exploring nature, photography and of course welding.

I have been welding for about five years now, since I was seventeen.  Back when I was still in high school I had never even imagined that I would be welding for a career.  All throughout school I was taking cosmetology, cutting hair, doing facials… When it came time to graduate and start planning for my future I started looking at industries that had the most demand at the time, which turned out to be welding and construction.

I pretty much talked to my dad about it and got some more information about what welding was like and what it took to become certified in the industry.  I knew right away that I wasn’t interested in an office job.  I wanted to prove myself in the world, and to my father.  So I guess a big part of why I became a welder was for my dad and to make him proud of me.  I decided to take a pre-employment welding course to gain more knowledge in the trade and basically learn how to weld and what was really going on once you strike that arc.

After taking the program it took me quite some time to get a job in a shop  – probably about eight months or so.  I noticed a lot of companies that I applied at weren’t interested in hiring individuals with no experience.  I finally got a break when a family friend found out about a position opening up at the company she was working for.  She gave me a good reference upon arriving with my resume.  That afternoon I received a phone call with a job offer and started work the following Monday.  After a few months I signed up with the Alberta apprenticeship board — this was in late 2005.

For my apprenticeship training I attended the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in their Polytechnics program.  At work right now, I mostly use Gas Metal Arc welding (GMAW).  We run metal cored 0.45 wire.  We also do some Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) when needed.  I feel more comfortable welding stick and mig obviously.

I love working in a fabrication shop.  I always put my best effort into every project and I really enjoy saying “I built that”.  I think at the end of the day, if your face and hands are covered in dirt, it’s been a great and productive day.  I really enjoy welding Gas Tungsten arc welding (TIG) as well.  I like how clean the weld is and how much hand eye coordination you need to be able to have a good looking product.

For my whole apprenticeship I’ve only worked at two shops — both fabrication shops, just different kinds of production.  For my first job, I built average sized skids for an industrial air conditioning company, mostly using c-shaped channel.  At that shop I was able to weld a lot of different types of metal.  I learned how to weld structural aluminum as well as lighter gauged material.  I also spent a fair amount of time welding stainless steel and aluminum using tig.

At the shop I work at now, we’re building custom natural gas compression units using a lot of heavy W shape beam for the base of the skid.  I really enjoy it because you have to fabricate projects using a lot of personal experience and knowledge.  I am also interested in doing some artistic welding once I can purchase my own welding unit to use at my house.  When I first started out in the industry I did experience a fair amount of discrimination.  I was having quite a hard time finding a job.

I’ve heard a lot of different excuses going from not having proper facilities for women to employers thinking I wouldn’t be able to lift enough weight.  You also grow a pretty tough skin in welding.  A lot of things that guys say can be mistaken; you have to learn how to take criticism as well as eventually give it.  I’ve realized now that companies are looking for knowledgable individuals who know what they’re doing and are great at what they do.

I always enjoyed technical training.  Shop class was my most favourite time in school.  I remember in my second year I had received the highest mark for our practical in flux cored GMAW.  That’s definitely one of my greatest memories…

If I were to give any advice for girls or women looking to get into the trade, I’d have to say first of all that you don’t necessarily have to fall into any stereotype that women have to work in an office or be a nurse…  You can do anything you want — whatever interests you the most, whether it be mechanics, plumbing, construction or welding.  Just remember you can achieve anything you put your mind to.

If you’re interested in working in the industry, no matter what type of industry it is, when you’re applying for a job, come in prepared to work, as if you already got a position in the company. More than likely the employer will think pretty highly of you… I’ve learned this from experience and seeing some people attempting to succeed that unfortunately don’t make it.

Work hard and know your theory.  You should definitely know how to set up your machine properly, replace a spool of wire, and know how to troubleshoot almost any problem that occurs with your drive rolls and wire feed system.  Knowing how to properly fix problems without asking for help shows a lot about your skills, and in the end it’s a lot easier and quicker so that you can get back to your work faster.

I want to steal the name of her blog.  Seriously.

This is a fantastic look into the workings of a women welder’s mind written by Wendy Welder.  Perhaps she is related to our good friend, Joe Welder??

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2010

How it all started.
Even as a little girl, I had dirt under my fingernails and grease smeared across my face. I grew up in the garage, at the shop, out in the yards with my Dad. Dad worked in tire retread and his hobby was cars, so I saw a lot of cars, a lot of trucks and a lot of men in my childhood.

Weekends were spent at the race track or at car shows. Dad raced a 1972 Nova before I was born, and I think everytime we went to the track he wished it was him out there. It wasn’t long before I wished it was me.

My first car was a Chevy Nova. I drove it everywhere, and I loved it like it was my child. But, it was my first car, and I was just learning how to take care of it and how everything worked. My parents always reminded me to check the oil and I always forgot. When the engine blew, Dad made ME replace it. (Of course he helped) And while I had always been around when he worked on cars, seeing the daylight through the hole in the block where the rod had flown through, and the whole process of the replacement, the sense of accomplishment when the car was up and running again, made me love that car even more and made me want to spend the rest of my life around cars.

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Gordon Brown has lately honoured the women who worked in the steel factories during WWII!  Huzzah for our fellow Rosies from across the sea!

Sheffield’s World War II Women of Steel are thanked

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has paid tribute to hundreds of female workers who toiled in the steel factories of South Yorkshire during World War II.

The workers, known as the Women of Steel, produced metal which was essential for the war effort.

Among them were Ruby Gascoigne, 87, Dorothy Slingsby and Kathleen Roberts, both 88, and Kit Sollitt, 90, who were honoured on a visit to Downing Street.

They travelled from Sheffield on a train named the Women of Steel Express.

The engine was specially renamed in honour of the occasion and was unveiled by the four steel mill veterans before their journey on Wednesday.

The women received a special letter of thanks from veterans minister Kevan Jones and met Sheffield MPs at the House of Commons before visiting 10 Downing Street.

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It’s never too late to start welding — that’s the lesson we can learn from Cynthia Daniel, who has a yard full of metal art to prove it!

Dallas welder transforms trash into garden sculptures

Monday, February 15, 2010
By DIANE REISCHEL / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

Cynthia Daniel keeps a gangly old muffler in her carport, a silent lump she communes with, waiting for it to talk.

With age comes patience, says Daniel, a graphic artist for a Dallas publishing firm and a constant dreamer of trash. She’s more than a dreamer.

In recent years, this late-blooming welder has twisted, fired and honed a colony of eye-popping yard mates, some migrating to local sculpture shows, others charming their way into admirers’ back yards.

Her lively characters morph from the lowliest of throwaways, “found metal” she lifts from country lanes, junk yards and on quests through East Dallas for “big trash.”

Scraps speak to her, and she listens.

“I look at them every day in my yard, and they become something,” she says of her procedure for turning tractor springs, grilles or saw teeth into fish, flamingo or duck.

“Lately, I’m into fan blades. They become petals on flowers.”

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In Standwood, Washington, they’ve got it a little backwards — here, the students have become the teachers.  The teens are teaching the adults how to weld!!

Stanwood students teach adults welding
By GALE FIEGE
THE DAILY HERALD

STANWOOD, Wash. — When a group of high school welding students decided to offer a class for the community, they never imagined having to turn people away.

“It was amazing to us. We had 25 people on a waiting list right off the bat,” said teacher Darryl Main, adviser for Stanwood High School’s Agricultural Mechanics Club. “The community welding course has been so well-received, we might have to run another one this spring.”

For $60, adult students get 12 hours of instruction focusing on shielded metal and gas metal arc welding. Proceeds from the class help fund the club’s field trips and contest travel expenses.

On a recent Thursday, the garage doors to Stanwood’s ag shop were flung wide open. Twenty adults in protective helmets, coveralls and heavy gloves huddled over metal pieces, torches in hand and sparks flying, while teenagers coached them one-on-one through the welding process.

“It’s great to watch the kids teaching, and the adults enjoying learning from them,” Main said. “There’s no better way to learn than to teach. You can just see the self-esteem of the kids go up. They feel empowered and that’s pretty dang cool.”

Nearly half of the adult students in the class are women.

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Meet Naomi Buechman

Naomi is a new Facebook Friend (you can never have too many Facebook Friends!), and when we put out a call for women welders, she was one of the first to answer. Here’s what she has to say about welding, working as a woman welder, and life:

My name is Naomi Buechman. I am 24 years old and live in Ontario, Canada. I currently weld part time, looking for full time work, but am also a photographer.

For fun I enjoy concerts, drive ins, carnivals, reading, writing, photographing, and driving my truck on road trips… And of course, welding!

I have been welding for a little over a year now, and am C.W.B. Certified (in the GTAW and GMAW processes).

I was always interested in welding growing up even though I hated fire, because I used to watch TV shows of shipbuilders and auto-body guys slugging away on cars… I also thought the helmets looked very astronaut-like, which I loved!

I trained at a local college and took their “welding techniques” program, which actually focused around a lot of the ‘other’ stuff involved with welding- fitting, autocad, blueprint reading, technical math, welding theory and metallurgy, to name a few. It was my first year of ever stepping foot into a shop and it was definitely intimidating at first, but I quickly moved past that and went into ‘the zone’.

Currently I am using the SMAW and GTAW processes the most, but am proficient at using all forms, as we were taught all of them in the shop. I thoroughly enjoy TIG welding the most, even though I like laying a fast bead with say, GMAW, but I like that you can control your heat and bead with your foot …providing you use a foot petal

I have done some production welding, and am currently doing some projects for a military base for a local shop. I have never worked in a fab shop, but spend a lot of time in one alongside some of the greatest people in my life… amongst making some funky art pieces in the shop. I have done a few art pieces, nothing major- but have sold both that I made. It keeps my skills sharp when there’s a lull in the economy, which is a bonus!

I have done welding jobs from local little shops, to working plant shutdowns, 60 feet up crawling through 14 inch spaces to weld in a confined space. Burning rod with four inches of concrete all around- your face completely brown, hair like straw and concrete dust falling out of your pants. (Clarifying shampoo will be your friend ladies!)

Non-welding related I have done everything from slinging drinks, to pouring coffee, photographer to selling pantyhose to truckers. (Don’t ask!)

My biggest career challenge to date has been the economy, because when I graduated is when the recession hit its worst.

Being a woman in some towns is still a challenge too, but I always go prepared with helmet over shoulder to prove that I can weld just as good, or better than any guy on their shop floor. It pays to let employers know that you are not there to pave the road for women’s rights, but you genuinely love what you do, which is what I always let them know.

I have come across several situations where employers have said “oh sorry, we don’t have a woman’s washroom”, or “it’s a dirty job”, and I handled it by saying “there are always ways around that” or “It’s a job that needs to be done!” (After coming out of a chute, eight hours later covered with inches of concrete dust, I think proving tenacity and determination is key)

I would tell any young women that are interested in welding as a career to be strong, don’t undermine yourself and work hard. It’s very easy to get intimidated and discouraged because the reality is, the welding world can and will be tough, but so can a lot of other sectors in life, but you can’t let that get you down. If it’s something you really love at the end of the day, you will know.

If it’s not meant to be, then that’s okay too. Life is about finding your passion, which mine happens to be welding. I love the smell of burning rod, the smell of the leathers, and the accomplishment at the end of the day. It’s as simple as welding patches inside concrete chutes and making it fun, thinking of it as leaving your imprint.

I also want to encourage women to discover welding related careers that stem from welding, such as fitting, iron worker, welding inspector, or even an instructor. There are many opportunities to advance, and I believe that being smart is also an asset (but not necessarily a necessity) with being a welder too. Knowing distortion control, grain structure of metals used in tools and why, or different currents used and why really helped me progress as a good welder. Knowing how to weld is cool, but knowing how to take apart your nozzle and put it back together is where it’s at for me. I believe you should know how and why your machine works, not just that it works.

Right now because of the recession, there are a lot of qualified men/women without work, which does suck, but you just have to keep with it and get out there and pound the pavement when an opportunity arises. I think the best path for success in the industry is listen to those who know, those who have been there. Try it out.

I foresee green projects popping up like crazy, so the demand will be there and always for maintenance of plants and structural jobs from across the country.

If art is your forte, get out to every local craft shop and get your name out there, don’t be afraid!

My ultimate goal as a welder is to end up working for an auto-body shop, customizing rods, or to start mingling with some cool alloys, such as TIG welding titanium or TIG welding parts for the aerospace industry.

As Tomater from Cars would say, eat my rust!

Thanks Naomi! You know we all want to know, however, WHY were you selling pantyhose to truckers?

Yes, we’re a little in posting this…. but a belated CONGRATS to Carissa!

I thought you all might find this interesting — what were the original Rosies recommended to wear to work?  Well, now you know!