Everyday Heroes 2020

FLINT ENERGIES
LINEMAN
TONY GRAHAM
By JOSHUA MILLER
Born and raised in Warner Robins, Georgia, Tony Graham hasn’t left
his beloved hometown.
Playing sports and being outdoors is what Graham lived for growing
up. Whether it was football, baseball, golf, hunting or fishing; it was
about all he did.
After graduating from Houston County High School, Graham first
picked up a career as a welder, but it didn’t last.
“I was welding at this shop and kind of realized I wasn’t going to
make the kind of career I wanted out of it, and be able to stay
home,” said Graham. “So, one of the guys I worked with brought up
(working as an electrical lineman); I didn’t know anything about it
at that time, but I started looking into it and got interested. I looked
more into it and decided to leave my welding job and go to school
to be a lineman.”
To make the transition, Graham went out on a limb by completely
leaving his welding job to enroll into lineman class. The classes he
took were full time, eight hours a day, every day, for eight weeks,
and the classes were not even required in order to become a
lineman. Graham took it upon himself to take the classes and learn
about the job.
Being a pedestrian, watching linemen casually work elevated high in
a bucket, it seems like they simply fix what’s wrong, but it’s not as
simple as they can make it seem. The job can be demanding, risky
and tough to endure. So, having knowledge of the job made it much
easier for Graham.
After completing his courses, Graham was employed as a lineman.
He’s coming up on his fourth year working at Flint Energies and has
been a lineman for seven
years.
Once Graham worked on
calls, he realized his knowledge
wasn’t as important
as the teamwork it took to
complete a job. With his
sports playing background,
being a team player is second
nature to Graham.
“When you’re up in the
bucket or dealing with
any hot wiring, you have
someone else up there
working with you too,” said
Graham. “The decision you
make might not only affect
you, but it might affect him
too. So, you have to pay
attention to what they’re
doing and let them know
what you’re going to do.”
While in the bucket,
Graham is also exposed to
the elements, and weather
conditions can change the difficulty of a job significantly. His most
memorable call was repairing lines after an ice storm hit Oklahoma.
“We went out to Oklahoma, worked a big ice storm and kind of
worked our way back home,” Graham remembered. “We were
gone for a couple of weeks, met a lot of people and saw a whole
different part of the country. They had a big ice storm there and
had some tornadoes on top of that, so they had a lot of damage.”
Working as a team under harsh and potentially dangerous circumstances
builds camaraderie. For Graham, his favorite part of the job
are the bonds he’s built with coworkers.
“My favorite part hands down is the camaraderie between all the
guys I work with,” said Graham. “I see them more than I see my
family. We can joke, cut up and still do our job; that’s definitely my
favorite part.”
While fixing a line is a very risky job, workers like Graham are
generally in a completely safe environment when everything is
done correctly. The number one risk is getting shocked by the high
voltage, but Graham will tell you he’s “100% safe” while working.
Graham’s assignments aren’t just fixing the big power lines though.
Linemen can vary from changing out a pole, to giving new service
to a new house, or rebuilding a whole sectional line; those are just
a few of many tasks Graham must be ready for everyday.
Come October of 2020, Graham will be employed at Flint for four
years, and his apprenticeship will be completed. Graham will soon
get the official lineman title at Flint and plans to keep moving up.
After two more years of being a lineman at Flint, Graham can test
to become a journeyman, the highest rank of a lineman. Next step
is crew leader or service lineman, if everything permits.
EVERYDAY HEROES 2020 13