Christopher Paup | Inside Wireman | 332 Sergeant in Arms | CA Air National Guard Technical Sergeant
“I joined the CA Air National Guard in the 129th Search and Rescue Wing out of Moffett Field in 2011. I’ve been on active duty ever since as an aircraft mechanic. I love our deployed mission and just recently returned from a five-month deployment in the Middle East. But I also love our stateside mission which includes wildland firefighting. We take our helicopters up, scoop baskets of water, and dump thousands of gallons at a time on fires.
“We’ve been very busy over the last few years. A few times I was on the job doing electrical work, and I had to go to my foreman to say, ‘We just got activated by the governor and have to get our planes in the air.' I’d go home, shave, pack, and then be out in the field.
“There’s actually a lot of similarities between the military and the union. I tell people that the IBEW is the most military-like civilian organization I know of in regards to how we as union members have each other’s backs. The similarities go all the way down to the training, where the older, more experienced journeymen take on apprentices. On the military side, I train my airmen much the same way.
“The transition between both organizations is pretty smooth because of the structure, support, and camaraderie. There’s a deep bond among union electricians the same way there is in the military because of our shared interests and values. It’s an inherent part of both jobs to take care of each other and lift each other up, making both organizations very effective.”