u/Due-Veterinarian7671

Looking to hear from anyone who's been through this. I separated from the Air Force after 5 years where I did electrical work, and I'm rated 100%.
I want to go the lineman route and I'm trying to use VR&E (Chapter 31) to cover a line school or pre-apprenticeship program.

Problem is I keep running into a wall getting it approved. I've done everything they've asked: completed the orientation, met with my counselor, done the career assessments, researched the job market, and put together info on programs and local demand.
Still getting pushback.
A few questions for anyone who's been there:
Did your counselor push back because of your rating and the physical demands of the job? If so, how did you address it?
What did you bring to your meetings that actually helped get it approved (job postings, letters from programs, labor market data, etc.)?
Did you have to request a new counselor or go to the VR&E officer to get anywhere?
Which line schools or programs did VR&E end up paying for?
Any advice is appreciated. I know the military electrical background helps, I just need to get past this approval step.

In college for cybersecurity and it’s something I genuinely loathe and hate.

I found an interest in the electrical side of things and recently learned about the relay tech career.

Shermco appears to be the only company in my area. I’ve seen a couple of apprentice relay tech positions available over the past year.

I have an EET associates degree from my time in highschool.

I’ve tried to apply to my locals IBEW but have been waiting for nearly a year. I would like to change majors to an EE degree but I’m just so burnt out from schooling I want to learn some actual useful knowledge and start earning money.

Do companies typically offer some sort of tuition assistance?

Hey all , just had a career fair thing at school and one of the people there was a guy. He said he was a relay technicians and works on giant breakers. He made it sound interesting but I stupidly didn’t bother to ask him more in depth questions. I’ve been doing research on the field and was shocked to see how much it pays. I was originally wanting to be a lineman but if I can get into relay testing I think I would like it more.

I learned a lot by working on my grandpas farm where we did our own electrical work, nothing crazy. I also enjoy networking and IT. I have built my own home lab and media server to avoid the ads from certain websites ahah.

I enjoy constantly learning new things.

I’m confused on the education part I’ve seen some places say u need a 2 year degree and others say you don’t need any experience and they’ll train you from the ground up.

How much do relay tech really make ? Is it true experienced techs are making over 50$ an hour?!

Concerns about this career field is that is it A.I proof?
The projected growth rate is only 2% which is a bit concerning.

Is it possible to do an online college class a semester? I want to knock out an engineering degree , even if it takes a few years.

Is the is a career field you would recommend?

Looking to get out of my current job and want to make the pivot to relay work.

I have my EET degree along with some electrical experience but waa wondering if I should try and land a relay tech role or try to get in the ibew union as an inside wireman.

Is the is career field worth it for someone who enjoys all aspects of the energy sector. Diagram reading, troubleshooting, testing, installing, etc.

Will it help that I have a background in IT?

I’ve been waiting for nearly 6 months to get in the IBEW.

While job searching I noticed a relay tech/p&c tech position and applied for it.

I can’t believe it but they offered me a spot as a level 1 tech starting off at 45$ an hour , plus per diem, anything after 8 is DT.

They mentioned the pay ranges of mid-senior level techs and I thought they were trolling , unbelievable numbers.

I’m honestly in shock I had no idea this world existed, I come from a background in IT with some experience doing electrical work.

I’ve always had it in my head that I was gonna be in the IBEW do all the cool stuff and travel but I’d be starting off in the low 20’s.

I have until the end of the month to accept it, but I feel so conflicted.

I feel like I’ll be so behind and pigeoned holed into a relay tech career since the skills don’t transfer to any other field and it’s such a niche area.

In the ibew I’ll learn all sorts of things and have my golden ticket at the end of the