Tad Wendler hangs his welding helmet inside the Stryker battle damage repair facility at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar. Through General Dynamics Land Systems, he applied online and eventually signed a one-year contract to complete repairs and retrofits on Stryker eight-wheeled, light armored combat vehicles in Iraq, Afghanistan and Qatar.

"I tried to join the military – every branch," said Tad Wendler, from Olympia, Wash., 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, Wash., a 40-minute drive south of Olympia. He helped to care for 20 head of cattle, three horses and endless crops. His grandfather started to teach him arc welding when he was about eight years old. While they fixed farm equipment, their discussions often included stories of the older man’s 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 to find out about 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 strikes a gas metal arc torch at the Stryker battle damage repair facility at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar. GDLS contractors there restore six battle-damaged Strykers to factory specifications every month, and they have returned 214 vehicles to combat since 2005.

Wendler has fused and fabricated bridges, barges and construction equipment. For nearly four years, he repaired and built heavy machinery used for coal mining. He refined a more decorative touch for welding 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. Eventually, he shifted his focus to off-road vehicle fabrication. Wendler has built several rock buggies for friends and family, including 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 to General Dynamics Land Systems in February 2009. GDLS was accepting resumes from welders ready to enter into one-year contracts to complete 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 Fort Lewis, Wash., in October 2003, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.