IBEW members who share the bond of military service can now stand up to be counted — and honored.

A new challenge coin shaped like a dog tag features the U.S. flag on one side and Canada’s Maple Leaf on the other. The IBEW logo is on both.

“Honoring our members who served their countries while also bringing more veterans into the IBEW has long been a priority for me, whether it is through VEEP or Helmets to Hardhats or providing resources for our local unions to add their own veteran committees,” International President Kenneth W. Cooper said. “The challenge coin is one of our most visible steps yet and will make our entire Brotherhood stronger, not just our veterans.”

Challenge coins play a special role in both the U.S. and Canadian militaries. Symbols of loyalty and honor, they build camaraderie and lasting connections. They recognize individual and unit achievement.

For Mike Smith, the international representative for veterans’ affairs, the new challenge coin is also personal.

Smith served in the U.S. Navy for 10 years before becoming a member of Geneva, N.Y., Local 840. He carries with him a coin given by another IBEW inside wireman, Navy veteran and JATC instructor — all roles that Smith has held.

That fellow member was battling cancer when he presented it to him.

“We ended up losing our brother to that horrible disease,” Smith said. “This coin ensures he is with me every day. I take the challenge coin very seriously.”

All IBEW members who have served in either military can have a coin sent to them free of charge by going to the QR code in this story or visiting ibew.org, tapping the “Affinity Groups” tab under “About the IBEW” and clicking on “Veterans Committees.” They also will receive a letter of thanks for their service from the International President.

The coin already is getting rave reviews.

“I think it’s amazing,” said Portland, Ore., Local 48 Business Representative Kelly Bond, who served in the U.S. Army on active duty for four years and 20 more years in the Reserves.

“It’s a sign of respect,” she said. “Coming from the International Office, the acknowledgement and respect laid out to our veteran members is phenomenal.”

“The coin means unity among our veteran members and dedication to the trade, but also what we bring to it in terms of reliability and accountability.”

_{– Los Angeles Local 11 Director of Veterans Affairs Mike Kufchak}

“It’s very special,” said Jeff Colepaugh, a veteran of the Canadian Army who is now a member of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Local 37 and works as a power line technician for NB Power.

“I feel really honored to have one,” added Colepaugh, who also serves as a shop steward. “It kind of brings together the past military history that means so much to me and connecting it with my home within the IBEW.”

Honoring veterans in the IBEW is a good enough reason by itself for the challenge coin. But the IBEW’s Veterans Committee members and others active in military affairs within the Brotherhood hope it means so much more.

For starters, it encourages more local unions to charter Veterans Committees of their own. There are now 73 such committees within the IBEW, though Smith and others involved say that is merely scratching the surface of what is to come.

The coin should also provide the IBEW with a more accurate count of its veteran members, a needed tool in persuading elected officials and other important groups to be of assistance.

Louis Spencer, a former U.S. Army paratrooper who now serves as IBEW deputy chief of staff, noted that the Per Capita Department began asking new members if they were veterans only in the last few years.

But offering an attractive coin as a way of saying thanks and recognizing them should bring more military veterans into the spotlight.

“We want to know how many veterans are in the IBEW,” said Spencer, a member of Grand Island, Neb., Local 1597. “It helps on both sides of the aisle. We can bring politicians into the IBEW and show we care and put veterans to work better than any organization does. “

Tom Kelley, an East Windsor, N.J., Local 827 member and chair of the IBEW Veterans Committee, said no one really knows how many veterans are included in the IBEW’s 873,000 members and retirees.

Imagine the power of the Brotherhood finding out that at least 100,000 members are veterans — or maybe even 150,000.

“It gives us an idea of how powerful of an advocacy group we can be,” said Kelley, who served in the U.S. Navy before embarking on a long career with Verizon.

The Brotherhood-wide Veterans Committee wanted to design a coin that “really means something because of all the coins that are out there,” Spencer said. “We wanted something with significance.”

Los Angeles Local 11 Director of Veterans Affairs Mike Kufchak served 32 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, achieving the rank of sergeant major, and now serves as the IBEW Veterans Committee’s vice chair.

“The coin means unity among our veteran members and dedication to the trade, but also what we bring to it in terms of reliability and accountability,” he said.

Pete Cool, a member of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Local 1928 and the First District representative on the IBEW Veterans Committee, said the coin also serves as a reminder that the U.S. and Canadian armed forces have worked together throughout history. That’s important when relations between the two countries are strained.

“The IBEW is an international union,” said Cool, who served 17 years in the Canadian Navy and left as a petty officer second class. “We’re brothers and sisters. There’s no borders. We’re one big team. It reflects the military history between the two countries.”

Another objective of the coin is to remind veterans that they aren’t alone. There are resources available if they are struggling. It might encourage them to become more active in their local union.

One way to do that is through a local’s Veterans Committee, Bond and others said. She was a leader in forming Local 48’s committee more than a year ago. She thought maybe 10 to 15 members might show up at its first meeting.

Instead, more than 40 did. Since that time, she’s seen some of the older members help younger ones on a jobsite. She’s also seen younger members — who are often more Internet-savvy — help some older members apply for veterans benefits from the federal government they didn’t realize they were entitled to.

“It was amazing to see that symbiotic relationship,” she said.

Bond said she was disappointed upon entering the trade that there wasn’t a Veterans Committee at her local. She jumped at the chance to fix that.

“Veterans have a unique way of communicating with one another,” she said. “They have some unique experiences that the civilian population can’t easily relate to.”

A “Field Guide” to setting up a veterans committee at your local union is available on the Veterans Committees page at ibew.org. Bond and others involved in forming a committee said having a supportive business manager is crucial.

And one size does not fit all. Syracuse, N.Y., Local 1249 is primarily an outside local and has jurisdiction over nearly all of New York state.

This makes it all but impossible to hold regular in-person meetings.

They can gather quickly via Zoom and other technology, however.

“Technology is working in our favor,” said President and Assistant Business Manager Henry Westbrook, who served in the U.S. Air Force for four years. “I can put out a blast email and have a meeting in two or three days.”

He’s also noticed Local 1249’s veteran members becoming more active in the rest of the union, knowing they have a support group that didn’t exist just a few years ago.

“You can have three or four members get together, and that’s it,” he said. “You might think it’s not working. Well, it is working. You’ve got to keep going forward. It will grow. No matter how small your local is, how little you think you’re doing, you’re still discussing ideas and putting your heads together. Keep it up.”