For our Fourth of July episode of the Line Life Podcast, we are celebrating those who dedicate their lives to service, not only in the line trade but also through the U.S. military. Our guest, SSG Christopher Garrett, discusses the opportunities available to lineworkers through the U.S. Army Reserve and active-duty in the 249th Engineer Battalion or Prime Power.

He traveled from Fort Belvoir in Virginia to Kansas City for the International Lineman's Rodeo Week to support the competitors and teams in the military division and create awareness about the training and work opportunities available through Prime Power.

To learn more, you can stop by their booth at the 2025 International Lineman's Expo, visit their website or listen to Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of our Veterans in the Line Trade series on Podbean. You can also read a story called Veterans in the Line Trade, which explores opportunities for military veterans to become trained as lineworkers.

Thank you for tuning in to the Line Life Podcast, and Happy Fourth of July to lineworkers and your families!

T&D World covers wildfire mitigation year-round, but each May, we devote a special section or supplement to this topic. This audio story in our ICYMI series examines how Portland General Electric (PGE) is adopting a holistic approach to mitigation, setting a model for preventing wildfires in the Northwest.

To read the full story, which was authored by Ben Felton, executive vice president and chief operating officer of PGE and narrated by Amy Fischbach, host of the Line Life Podcast, visit the wildfire page on the T&D World website. Also, subscribe to the Line Life Podcast channel to listen to more audio stories about wildfire mitigation from the May 2025 special report in the print issue. We'd love to have you as part of our podcast community. Thanks for tuning in!

T&D Talk is a special series on the T&D World Line Life podcast channel. For each episode, companies can share their stories about how they are supporting the electric utility industry. Through their tools, technologies, products and services, they are helping lineworkers and fieldworkers improve their productivity and safety.

For Part 2 of a three-part series sponsored by Southwire, we are featuring the episode, "Novel Innovations in T&D to Ensure a Reliable Electric Grid." This episode focuses on innovations in transmission and distribution to ensure reliability and resiliency. Our guest is Charles Holcombe, director of overhead systems and solutions for Southwire.

To learn more about our guest and the topic of this episode, visit the T&D World website. You can also listen to Part 1 of our series by clicking here. Part 1 focuses on the role of Southwire's analytics in DEMCO's grid management.