For those interested. And please don't take this as boasting. Its just what I have done and was written in response to a post on the weldingweb.com site..

I 1st welded in the 8th grade at Cherokee Jr HS in Springfield MO. Filled up a piece of Angle with 6013 and was hooked.

I 1st welded for $ when I was 15 . At 16 I could GTAW Aluminum, GMAW Carbon, and SMAW open roots in plate in all positions using cellulose electrodes for the root/hot and 7018 fill and cap. I built portable electric lighting trailers for $7.25 an hour for a company in Memphis. worked nights after school for 39.5 hours a week.

I took welding classes in HS from 10th grade thru 12th grade. I qualified to compete in the local VICA contest while in the 10th grade but was not allowed. Competed in the 11th and lost by 2 points or something. I had been penalized 30ish points for not having all my tools . Teacher was supposed to bring em.

Before I turned 19 I had certified on CS Plate all positions on backing, Aluminum GMAW, Consumable Insert roots on Carbon steel, Carbon Moly, Chrome Moly, HY80 Plate using 11018. Within 4 mos after that I was certified CS,SS,Inco, Nicu,CuNi pipe down to 1" diameter using consumable inserts. All of these were in accordance with US Nav y Standard Mil Std 248 and NS 250-1500 

After certification I welded on US Navy submarines and Surface ships on a daily basis (Many weeks of 7-12s). My 1st radiographed weld in a nuclear power plant was at 19 years old. I 1st used an inverter power source around 1984. During that time I certified on materials down to 1/2" NPS on CS, SS, Inco and NiCu.

I have braze welded Cast Iron in Excess of 2" thick, I have mirror welded pipes and boiler tubes. I have welded on tangent tube composite window welds in BLRB's in the US and South Africa. I became a CWI in 1990 with NO classroom training or seminar. I was Quality Manager and In charge of all welding for a fortune 500 company for about a year in which I trained welders, managed the inspection department, developed new procedures (GMAW-Pulsed for Nickel Alloys) and various other duties typical of a "Welding Professional". (All before 1992)

I have worked outages / new construction as a pipe, tube or structural welder in refineries, power plants, paper mills, food processing plants, grain mills, boiler and pressure vessel shops, heat exchanger shops,  and others. I have witnessed and administered probably more than 200 to 300 welder tests. 

I have welded with and certified to various codes using SMAW, GMAW, GMAW-P, GTAW, FCAW-S, FCAW-G, SAW. I have been certifed in accordance with Mil Std 248, NS 250-1500, ASME Sec IX, AWS d14.6, AWS D1.1 and various company standards that exceeded the requirements of the above codes. I have never welded on bridges or cross country pipelines (but would like to some day or at least as a helper)

I now work for myself and weld only for fun in the back yard or wherever I can find some to do. I am happy just filling up a piece of angle with beads. Its relaxing. I have made some beautiful welds in hard places and some ugly welds in easy places. I weld . Not better than anyone or worse than anyone. I just weld.

As of today (20 Sep 08) I am current with at least 14 companies for welding Unlimited thickness Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel (F5 SMAW), and Nickel Alloys (F43-45)  using GTAW root and SMAW fill and Cap.