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FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES


Co-op linemen form a brotherhood based on maintaining and restoring power—and staying alive.


T


hey wake before the sun, pour steaming cups of coffee, and kiss their family goodbye. After swinging by the Choctaw Electric Cooperative office to get the day’s orders, 35 men climb into their trucks and head out for a day that could vary from mellow to absolutely miserable.


Choctaw Electric Cooperative (CEC) linemen form a solid team with one job: to get the power on safely and keep it on. But that job can change in a million ways when rough weather steps in.


“Today, electricity powers virtually every aspect of our life. We don’t give much thought to the power behind our lives until it’s missing,” said Terry Matlock, CEO of Choctaw Electric Cooperative (CEC).”It’s is easy to take power and the linemen who deliver it for granted, but I’d challenge anyone to stand in their boots.


Life on the Line


Guy Smith began his career as a CEC lineman 30 years ago. During his tenure with the co-op he has slogged through


8 | april 2014


snaky slews in the wee hours of the night, endured bone-chilling cold and blistering heat, and tested his mental and physical endurance working 36 to 48 hours shifts to get the power back on. To hear Smith talk, it’s all in a days work, albeit a really long day.


He’s been cussed by frustrated consumers, swarmed by mosquitoes, and almost trampled by a mysterious animal in the black of night. Hail, wind, rain, ice, flood and fire, he’s worked in all of it. These days not much rattles him, but for one thing.


As part of their four year apprenticeship, rookie linemen work with those more experienced to“learn the ropes.” Smith says nothing frightens him more than watching a greenhorn climb a pole and work near energized lines. “Now that gets to me,” he says.


None of his partners have been injured on the job, nor has he, but he has witnessed two electrocutions, one fatal. Such experiences drive home the dangers inherent in a lineman’s work.


Smith’s partner, Raymond Allen worked as a laborer for CEC for two years before following the footsteps of his granddad, a co-op lineman for some 28 years.


Allen stays plugged in to the well being of fellow hard hats across the U.S. via a Facebook page devoted to helping injured linemen and their families. He says most of the accidents he reads about are usually attributable to human error. “Ninety-nine percent of the time someone forgot to do something they should’ve done, or they weren’t paying attention,” Allen said. The result, however, is tragic: critical burns, loss of limbs, and death.


With two young children and a wife at home, Allen has extra incentive to be careful. After 10 years on the line, his family is more accustomed to his crazy hours and risky working conditions, but his wife still prays for him every morning.


Smith, Allen and their fellow CEC linemen must work safely, smart, and efficiently—while dangling 40 feet in


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