CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar - "I tried to join the military - every branch," said Tad Wendler, from Rainier, while striking a gas metal arc torch inside the Stryker battle damage repair facility at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar. "But now I'm serving in another way."

"I'm protecting soldier's lives," said Wendler, a welder responsible for ensuring the integrity of armored combat vehicles for troops on the battlefield. "I cannot be out there with them, but I'm doing my best to ensure they return home safely."

Wendler, 27, was raised on a 50-acre farm in Rainier, a 40-minute drive south of Olympia. He helped care for 20 head of cattle, three horses and endless crops. His grandfather started to teach him arc welding at around eight years old. While fixing farm equipment, discussions often led to stories of Army service in the Pacific during World War II.

Wendler hoped to join the military as a student at Rainier High School, where he took his first formal welding class. He visited recruiters for service in the Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard, but persistent hip problems kept disqualifying him for the physical demands of recruit training.

Frustrated, he started taking classes at South Puget Sound Community College, a public college in Olympia, and then later enrolled in nearby Centralia Community College for a one-year welding certification.

Wendler has fused and fabricated bridges, barges and construction equipment. For nearly four years, he repaired and built heavy machinery in coal mines. He refined a more decorative touch by working on chairs for restaurants and stainless steel showers for beach houses, as well as various customization projects.

While earning a living as a welder in rural Washington, he often accepted side jobs fixing irrigation pipes, dump trucks and dozers at his parent's farm in Rainier. He eventually shifted his focus to off-road vehicle fabrication. Wendler has built several rock buggies for friends and family, to include his mother.

His most recent off-road masterpiece blended a 1985 Toyota pickup body with a 1953 Jeep Willys hood and grill. He dropped in a GM V6 Vortec engine and constructed a suspension out of various parts. The external metal roll cage represents his favorite fabrication work.

"Welding is one of the most stable jobs in this economy," says Wendler. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook suggests plenty of job opportunities for welders with little or no change expected through 2018. Many employers are complaining about a shortage in skilled workers.

Wendler applied online for General Dynamics Land Systems in February 2009. GDLS was accepting resumes from welders interested in signing one-year contracts for completing repairs and retrofits on Stryker eight-wheeled, light armored combat vehicles in Iraq, Afghanistan and Qatar.

GDLS produces 10 Stryker configurations: infantry carrier vehicle (most common); command vehicle; fire support vehicle; engineer support vehicle; reconnaissance vehicle; medical evacuation vehicle; anti-tank guided missile vehicle; mortar carrier; nuclear, biological and chemical reconnaissance vehicle; and mobile gun system. The first Strykers deployed into combat from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in October 2003, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Nearly 1,000 Stryker vehicles support the three brigades. Explosions from roadside bombs quickly struck Strykers assigned to 5th SBTC, 2nd ID, from Fort Lewis. In October 2009, six vehicles were shipped to Camp As Sayliyah, the only battle damage repair facility capable of complete structural overhauls in Southwest Asia. In total, 35 Strykers have arrived for repairs from Afghanistan, according to GDLS reports on April 26.

GDLS contractors restore six battle-damaged Strykers to factory specifications every month in Qatar. They have returned 214 vehicles to deployed troops since 2005. On occasion, the same vehicle is damaged more than once, which allows the contractors to examine the effectiveness of their work. Engineers arrive several times each year to identify structural vulnerabilities for future retrofits.

"The skills acquired here are good for a welding career," he says. "If you can put ‘GDLS battle-damage repair' on your resume, it's a big bonus. This is a pinnacle in welding professions."

Wendler hopes to sign another one-year contract as a Stryker welder in Qatar; two more if possible.

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