By Melissa Buckley, Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Aug. 28, 2025) — Soldiers on the path to becoming interior electricians for the U.S. Army are wired for success during six weeks of training at Fort Leonard Wood’s Brown Hall.
Following basic combat training, Soldiers with the military occupational specialty of 12R Interior Electrician attend advanced individual training with Company B of the 169th Engineer Battalion, 1st Engineer Brigade.
According to Sgt. 1st Class Trebel Iman, Interior Electrician Course lead instructor, electricians are the driving force behind today’s Army.
“As the Army is moving forward more and more things need power, in that way electricians are critical to mission success,” Iman said.
During the course, Soldiers learn to install, maintain and safely distribute electricity.
“The first thing we teach them is how to rescue someone that is being electrocuted,” Iman said.
Staff Sgt. Christopher York, an Interior Electrician Course instructor, said the course teaches new Soldiers why it is critical for them to follow safety protocols.
“When you are working with electricity and sharp, dangerous tools safety is paramount,” York said.
Throughout the course, students work on interior electrical systems, including generators, transformers, circuit breakers and electrical boxes.
To graduate and earn the title of U.S. Army Engineer, they must follow blueprints and wire plans to complete the wiring, then test the equipment and fix any short circuits.
“For their final test we give them 52 hours in a room with several devices, lights and a panel box,” Iman said. “They have to wire everything up, then we go live with the power and go through and test each system. They are not finished until everything works.”
According to Iman, about 250 Soldiers come through the course each year and leave Fort Leonard Wood as apprentices.
“We only touch on the National Electric Code here, but to become journeymen they have to master that,” Iman said.
According to the NEC, a journeyman electrician is a trained, skilled and adaptable tradesman who has spent years learning the electrical trade.
York said the interior electrician craft is a versatile skill set to have after military service.
“We will always need this trade in our society. We are always going to provide power. The whole world relies on power. They have to have people to wire it up,” York said.
According to York, it would take four to eight years to achieve the same certification outside of the Army.
“Soldiers can obtain their journeymen’s license in two years through the Unites Services Military Apprenticeship Program,” he added. “In the Army you are getting paid to go to school and once you are a journeyman a lot of different career avenues are opened for you.”
For more information about the interior electrician MOS, visit goarmy.com.
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About Fort Leonard Wood
Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post more than 80 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains nearly 80,000 military and civilians each year.
Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and three U.S. Army schools: the U.S. Army Engineer School; U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School; and the U.S. Army Military Police School. In addition to training engineer, CBRN and military police specialties for the Army, Fort Leonard Wood also provides gender-integrated in-processing and Basic Combat Training for new Soldiers.
Fort Leonard Wood also hosts and trains with the largest Marine Corps Detachment and Air Force Squadron on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.