Air Force veteran finds new mission at TSTC

(HUTTO, Texas) - Texan Quentin Keele spent over eight years living in two foreign countries and a northern U.S. state before he realized that Texas is where his heart is.

Now the Georgetown native and Air Force veteran is back to help turn on the heat this winter with the skills that he is learning in the HVAC Technology program at Texas State Technical College's East Williamson County campus, where he is pursuing an Associate of Applied Science degree.

He joined the Air Force right after high school in 2002.

"I knew I wanted to join the military, but my family didn't have a strong military background," he said. "Both of my grandfathers served in World War II, but no one had served since then. I didn't know what I wanted to do, and when I saw security forces, it just felt right."

Keele spent just over eight years as a member of security forces, policing airfields and protecting sensitive munitions. He was a staff sergeant and deployed twice.

"My second deployment was to Iraq in 2008," he said. "I was asked by another NCO (noncommissioned officer) to deploy because the team he was taking was all new people who had never done combat convoys before."

Keele said it was after that deployment that he was ready to come back to Texas for something different.

"I got a bachelor's degree in photography, and that did not really pay," he said. "Now I'm the director of facilities and technology for a church in Georgetown. I get to interact with people every day in a way that helps people, and I still use the skills I learned in the military to read situations to make sure the situations stay safe."

That new position is what brought Keele to TSTC.

"HVAC helps my position a lot," he said. "I'll be able to fix the things that the church can't afford to fix, for less, and I'll be able to do side jobs for people who have already asked."

With his life experience, Keele recommends technical skills to young people looking for a strong start in the workforce.

"Companies need people with skills," he said. "If you can get skills like the ones taught at TSTC, you'll be a problem solver, and when it comes to jobs, you'll never have a problem."

In Texas, heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and installers earn an average annual salary of $50,190, according to onetonline.org, which forecast the number of such positions to grow 21% in the state from 2020 to 2030.

TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree and certificates of completion in HVAC Technology at its East Williamson County, Fort Bend County, Harlingen, North Texas and Waco campuses.

Registration for TSTC's spring semester is underway. To learn more, visit tstc.edu.

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