Sara Bingham had no idea the welding skills she developed at Uintah Basin Applied Technology College would be her ticket to one day live aboard an aircraft carrier.

At age 21, Bingham is a hull technician in the Navy, assigned to the USS George Washington and stationed in Japan.

“I had never even seen a ship until I came to Japan to live on one,” Bingham wrote in a recent e-mail.

But she had spent plenty of hours inside the UBATC welding lab. As a student at Uintah High School, Bingham enrolled in Jeff Taniguchi‘s welding course every year. She credits Taniguchi with encouraging her to enter numerous welding competitions. She won many of them and developed a reputation for being unusually skilled for her young age.

“Competing pushed me to learn more and taught me how to work under pressure and how to work with others,” Bingham said. “Competition lets you show what you know, but it also shows you what you need to work on.”

While still in boot camp, Bingham’s competitive nature, coupled with her superior skills, captured the attention of her commanding officer. After basic training, he recommended her for advanced training opportunities at a prestigious welding school in Portsmouth, Va.

“I’m stationed in Japan, so for (the Navy) to pick me among so many applicants and to send me that far at such a big expense is a really big deal,” Bingham said.

Attending the three-month advanced welding school in Virginia was something Bingham said she could never have afforded on her own. Earning so many advanced-skill qualifications was a huge accomplishment and she now receives assignments to do jobs that no other welders on the ship are qualified to do.

As a hull technician, Bingham is responsible for doing the metal work that keeps the ship’s structures and surfaces in good condition. She is also now qualified to weld on pressurized systems, such as the catapult steam pipes used to launch aircraft from the carrier’s flight deck.

Living aboard the ship is a new experience, but Bingham said she loves serving in the Navy.

“It’s pretty tight quarters here; I share a room with 25 other female sailors,” she said. “We muster at 6 a.m. every morning and work until about 4 p.m.”

The USS George Washington is at sea for six to seven months of the year, sailing to places such as Australia and Hong Kong. The ship is in port in Japanese waters the remaining five months, during which time crew members are allowed to go ashore and enjoy Japanese culture.

“I love going out and exploring all that Japan has to offer and surrounding myself with the Japanese people,” Bingham said. “There are pagodas, temples, shrines and beautiful cherry blossoms everywhere.”

Bingham said she isn’t sure if she will re-enlist after completing her four-year stint with the Navy. Regardless of what she decides, she is confident that welding will remain her career of choice.

“I can honestly say the welding classes I took at UBATC … opened that door for my career,” she said.