LLNL welcomes six new machinist apprentices in signing ceremony

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) welcomed six new members into its prestigious machinist apprenticeship program during a signing ceremony held July 24. The event, attended by Lab leadership, supervisors and state officials, marked the official start of a four-year journey in advanced manufacturing for the new cohort.

The apprentices — Ace Jenkins, John Burns, Michael Zuniga, Cody Jackson, Charlie Darlington and Colt Brown — were selected from a competitive pool of 325 applicants and have already begun their on-the-job training and supplemental coursework. For the ceremony, they gathered to formally sign their orientation agreements, signaling their commitment to the rigorous program. The Machinist Apprenticeship Program combines 8,000 hours of paid hands-on training with classroom instruction in precision machining, technical drawing and lab safety.

“This is your apprenticeship,” said LLNL manufacturing superintendent Larry Sage, who helps oversee the program. “All we’re giving you is an opportunity. What you do with that opportunity is entirely up to you. I promise you — whatever you put in, you’ll get out.”

Launched in 1954, LLNL’s Machinist Apprenticeship Program has long been recognized as a national model, with a legacy of graduates who became full-time Lab employees and now hold leadership and supervisory roles across the Laboratory.

Herschel Baser, the program’s consultant with California’s Division of Apprenticeship Standards, emphasized the weight of that history and remarked on the program’s 100-percent completion rate since the apprenticeship restarted in 2002.

 “You’ve got a little bit of expectation [to uphold],” Baser said. “This program is the flagship of apprenticeships in advanced manufacturing. The things that you do here aren't being accomplished throughout the state, throughout the nation and probably throughout the world.”

This year’s signing ceremony featured a special guest: Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards Adele Burnes, who attended the signing for the first time during a tour of the Lab. She praised the Lab’s track record for graduations and the impact of mentorship within the program.

“This is cutting-edge work that is happening at this Laboratory, and you all get to be part of building it, which is going to be so exciting,” Burnes said.

For the apprentices, many of whom come from nontraditional backgrounds, the ceremony was more than just signing paperwork — it was a milestone in long-sought career transformations.

Jenkins, who previously worked in landscaping at the Lab, said his path to the program was built on persistence and curiosity, finally succeeding in securing the apprenticeship on his third attempt.

“I started taking classes [at Modesto Junior College], and I realized I really enjoyed it,” Jenkins said. “I just kept at it. After doing some career assessment-type things, I realized that would be a good fit for me and went on with the schooling and applied myself. Thankfully, it paid off.”

Burns, a former Santa Clara County law enforcement officer who also spent 15 years with NASA at Moffett Field, traces his interest in machining back to watching his great-grandfather at work. After leaving public service, he enrolled in classes at Chabot College and applied for the apprenticeship — a decision that, when it paid off, felt like a dream come true.

“Everyone talks about how elite the program is, so I didn't think I had a chance,” Burns said. “I'm an old guy; I’ve already had a career, but I put in for it. When I got the call for the job offer, I was shocked. I just couldn’t believe I was getting this opportunity.”

Zuniga, a first-generation college graduate who worked in his family’s collision repair shop, shared how discovering machining as a challenge only deepened his drive. “I found out I was terrible at machining,” he said, laughing. “And for me, that made me want to be better at it. I wanted to take it to the next level.”

Zuniga recently earned his associate degree in machine tool technology from Modesto Junior College while working nearly full time as a machinist.

“To get my degree, then start my career at the Lab basically two months later is honestly a blessing,” Zuniga said. “I never would have expected that in a million years. I’m just really thankful for the opportunity.”

Other new apprentices spoke about the unique educational and technical opportunities at the Lab and different pathways to the program. Jackson learned about the apprenticeship while taking a machining class at Livermore High School from LLNL Main Bay Shop supervisor Jason Carroll, while Darlington was introduced to it during Carroll’s class at Las Positas College. Darlington transitioned from a summer student internship to the program.

“Talking to a lot of the other guys in machine shop, it seems like the knowledge that you learn here is just more in-depth, and everyone's trying to spread that knowledge, which is cool,” Darlington said. “From what I hear about this place is you can move around and get experience in different areas and learn what you really want to do and keep doing that instead of getting stuck on something else. I'm just excited to follow something that I like.”

As the event concluded, the apprentices signed their agreements and shook hands with supporters, current and former apprentices and mentors — each now part of a tradition that spans more than seven decades.

In celebrating the group’s official entry into the program, Anup Singh, associate principal director for Engineering, put the apprentices’ future role in the broader context of national security and the nuclear deterrent.

“You are keeping the world safe,” Singh said. “Ideas are great, but if you don’t make real things, we can’t use them. You are part of that mission now.”