Cell Tower News is brought to you by the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE).
This week on Cell Tower News, host Joey Jackson focuses on the climbers. He talks with multiple veterans of the industry to see what it’s like to be a tower climber.
Guests include:
- Mike Winkle, Training Manager for Bluestream
- Corie Fontenot, Safety Manager for Tower MRL in Wisconsin
- Jeff Henry, Owner of Quality Antenna Systems in Ohio
Fontenot and Henry share their stories of how they got into the industry and give insight into what it takes to make your living hundreds of feet in the air. They compare the industry today to what it was like when they first started decades ago.
“When I first started, my first climb, I had nothing but a lap belt on that just went around my lap and around my legs and then a lanyard and that’s how you climbed,” Henry said.
“Now it’s a full body harness,” Fontenot added. “Hard hats, chin straps, multiple levels of standards have been upgraded on the way to protect the worker.”
“We are electricians. We are plumbers. We are engineers. We’re wrench turners. We’re very proud,” Fontenot said when asked to describe tower climbers.
In another segment, Winkle explains the career path that took him from being a Navy veteran to a tower climber who manages a training academy that helps train vets for the tower industry.
“You not only have to be tough, a little bit brave and a little bit stupid, but you also have to be intelligent enough to understand the AT&T long term evolution systems, the Sprint 2.5, Verizon,” Winkle said. “Stuff isn’t super difficult … but if you don’t do it right, you have blank spots and people who don’t have their cellphones.”
Finally, as part of the RCRtv “Tower Stories” series, Fontenot tells a story showing that the ability to ignore personal distractions is a very important skill tower climbers must have. They rely on each other to stay safe. When someone gets distracted on a job site, the consequences can be deadly.
For previous episodes of Cell Tower News and other RCRtv productions, click here.
