National Lineworker Appreciation Day will be celebrated this year on July 10. It's a day to recognize the tireless dedication of our Liberty electric operations team members working to deliver safe and reliable service to our customers. Each of them followed a different path that led to the same place in this essential industry. Learn more about three of our team members - Bryce, Jake, and Camren - as we share their stories throughout the week.
"At the end of the day, I just want to serve people"
Camren Qualls: Hollister, Missouri
Like father, like son … eventually.
Camren Qualls’ father was a lineworker for Liberty, retiring around three years ago as a line supervisor.
“He worked hard, and we learned to be kind of flexible with his schedule,” he says. “But in the background, I could see every day the life you can give a family in this line of work.”
Qualls didn’t immediately follow in his fathers’ footsteps, however. He became an RN after studying at the College of the Ozarks and worked for a time in the ER at the North Arkansas Regional Medical Center.
“It wasn’t for me,” he says. “I also have some family members in the fire service, so when the opportunity came up, I got my certifications and worked for the Ozark Fire Protection District for about five years. I was promoted up as an engineer. I drove the trucks and was essentially an EMT/fireman.”
But when opportunity knocked once more, Qualls says he took another leap of faith and joined Liberty just over a year ago. Today, he serves as an Electrician Apprentice, helping to maintain and operate the 15 substations in the Hollister, Missouri, area.
“It was a whole different experience making the jump from medical to more of a trade route, and I came in not knowing much about any of it,” he says. “But there are a lot of people here who can teach me a lot of different things. That’s the only way it can happen when you’re coming in blind.”
Working in substations, he helps perform regular maintenance and checks to keep everything up and running. In the event of an outage, the substation teams put safety precautions in place so line crews can perform their jobs safely. They’ll also travel when needed to help other crews in need of assistance.
“I really like being able to work with my hands and see the outcome of the work,” says Qualls. “Here, you see everything from start to finish. Knowing you had a hand in it is one of the better parts of the job.”
While serving in a different capacity, he says he can finally “talk shop” with his father.
“I now have a better understanding of what he did,” says Qualls. “I never really knew what he was talking about and now I do. That’s the cool part … being able to connect on a different level.
“This was a golden opportunity, and I couldn’t pass it up. When you have a family, you never want anything less for your kids. And at the end of the day, I just want to serve people. I still get to do that, but on a different scale.”
'I'm proud to be back in the teaching world'
Jake Moore: Joplin, Missouri
Jake Moore’s path to becoming a lineworker was longer than most … at least in terms of miles traveled.
Feeling the call to serve his country, Jake enlisted in the Marines. He eventually found himself in a Force Reconnaissance unit, serving as a lead explosive breacher for a maritime raid force. Missions included counter-piracy operations off the coast of Africa, in the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Aden, and assisting in the rescue of an American hostage in Somalia.
He later began training special forces around the globe, sharing what he’d learned through explosives training and out in the field to Jordanian commandos, members of a Cambodian counter-terrorism unit, and the South Korean military.
Having served four years and attaining the rank of sergeant, Moore began considering his next move.
“I knew someone in the linework field, so I dug into it a little more,” he says.
Which led to his humble beginnings in the mailroom of Liberty’s Central Region headquarters in Joplin, Missouri. Admitting the job was initially something of an “ego check” after working in special-ops, it was the foot in the door he needed to get where he wanted to go. From there, he joined the former Asbury plant as a coal worker, and then began training as a lineworker.
“It was almost a perfect transition from the special-ops world,” he says. “You’re working closely with a small team, and it’s dangerous work with tons of responsibility. You’re always watching each other’s backs and taking care of one another.”
Today, more than 11 years after joining Liberty, Moore serves as Manager of Technical Training, teaching a new generation of lineworkers the intricacies of the job.
“It’s a 42-month process to become a lineman,” he says. “There’s on-the-job training as an apprentice, learning electrical theory and safety, having performance evaluations … it’s very intense. But if you make it through our course, it’s nationally recognized, and you can join any electric company in the country.
“Brett Cogburn (Senior Manager, Operational Effectiveness) built this seven-step program, and I’m super proud to be back in the teaching world and under the leadership of Jeff Westfall (Vice President, Technical Services).”
Back in front of a classroom (which includes plenty of hands-on training in the training yard at the Kodiak facility in Joplin), Moore says he’s appreciative of the opportunity to help lead future lineworkers through the training process.
“I enjoy the camaraderie and appreciate the way the linemen look after each other,” he says. “They have a big responsibility they’ve taken upon their shoulders. They’re not just installers … they’re highly skilled, they’re thinkers, they’re leaders. It’s hard work and super dangerous with tons of high expectations and responsibility to keep your fellow linemen and the public safe.”
"The exhilaration of climbing made my blood flow"
Bryce Williams: Lake Tahoe, California
At an early age, Bryce Williams knew in his bones what he wanted to be when he grew up.
“I always wanted to be a doctor and help people, ever since I was a small child,” said Bryce Williams, Lineman in Lake Tahoe, California. “My dad had five knee surgeries as I was growing up. The fifth was a total knee replacement. I got to watch the replacement surgery, and that’s what made me want to focus specifically on orthopedics.”
He stayed focused on that goal during his studies and was rewarded with offers of full-ride scholarships at medical schools across the United States. But he soon found an even higher calling – one that would electrify his interests and transform his career plans entirely.
That day came while accompanying his brother, who was touring line schools. During the visit, Williams was encouraged to try his hand at climbing a pole.
“The exhilaration of climbing made my blood flow,” he says. “I could tell this job would be challenging, hands-on work.”
And that was all it took. Just weeks before he was set to join his cohort of future physicians, Williams called the school he had chosen and asked them to give his scholarship to another student. He was going to become a lineworker.
Fast forward to today, where Williams now has 20 years behind him as a lineworker. It’s a career that has taken him across the country, from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles.
For the last seven years, he has worked for Liberty in Lake Tahoe, California. He currently serves as Apprentice Coordinator, guiding the first-ever cohort of apprentice lineworkers for Liberty’s electric operations in California.
He’s found that he has a passion for teaching the critical skills necessary to do linework safely and help usher in new generations to the profession.
Thinking back to that first climb, when a lightbulb went off in his head and illuminated his path, Williams says it wasn’t too big of a stretch to go from orthopedics to linework.
“I love building and fixing things,” he says. “That’s kind of what a surgeon desires as well. This is just the outdoors version.”
