Welcome to the IAEI-Western Section Website

My predecessor trained his entire life for the electrical profession; I had no idea what I was getting into. I have done many things in my life: I retired from the United States Armed Forces with 22-½ years’ service. I hold 8 military specialties (3 Air Force and 5 Army). I have been a grocery delivery boy and a checker; the youngest department manager in a discount store, a high school teacher, a junior college teacher, a gunfighter in an amusement part, a volunteer firefighter, a professional long-haul truck driver, and the smallest police officer in the state of Kansas until the first female was sworn in. None of these jobs required electrical code knowledge.

“Then on September 8, 1980, I was hired by the city of Augusta, Kansas, as the city inspector—whatever that was! The retiring inspector spent exactly two weeks training me, and I was on my own. That is when I discovered that the job included enforcing the building, plumbing, housing and environmental codes. Along the years my responsibilities grew as the city adopted a mechanical and fuel gas code and assigned all zoning and subdivisions to me, along with making the city maps and being the draftsman.

At that time, the electrical code was enforced by the superintendent of electrical distribution.“That is until 1982, when the city manager’s office informed me that I would be taking over the electrical inspection. Three days later, I found myself completely lost at a Missouri-Kansas Chapter meeting in Overland Park, Kansas, ‘participating’ in a round table discussion with Bob Pullen (NEMA), Ray Mullin (Bussman), and the chief electrical inspector from Kansas City, Missouri, and Wichita, Kansas. These distinguished gentlemen started some really in-depth code discussions, while I sat there saying nothing and feeling completely out of my league, wondering what all this was about. When Bob Pullen asked why I was not joining in the discussion, I informed them that I had been an electrical inspector for three days and knew absolutely nothing about the electrical code. To my utter amazement, these men stopped their discussion and started teaching me the electrical code. That was the beginning of my career and my association with IAEI.”

After twenty-five years, seven months and one day, the city inspector of the city of Augusta, Kansas, retired in April 2006 from enforcing 3108 pages of code. Jerry Blair not only was the city inspector, he is a certified electrical, mechanical and plumbing inspector, and a Block & Associates tested journeyman electrician.

Blair is now the 2007 president of the Western Section of IAEI. He has served twenty years as secretary to the Missouri-Kansas and Kansas Sunflower Chapters. For seventeen years, he was the Western Section representative for the Kansas Sunflower Chapter, which he helped establish—the first new chapter in the Western Section in over 25 years. For six years, he taught the NEC, electrical wiring, residential wiring, commercial wiring and industrial wiring at Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kansas. He also taught IAEI courses for the Kansas Sunflower Chapter and area electricians for the past ten years.

The theme Blair has chosen for his tenure as Western Section president is:

  1. Get involved with your chapter, Western Section and IAEI.
  2. Bring in one new member.
  3. If you are not a member, now is the time to join the IAEI team.
  4. Get involved in the “I am Safety Smart” program.

“I am looking forward to attending as many chapter meetings in 2007 as possible,” Blair added. “I will make every effort to attend all the chapter meetings in the Western Section during my tenure as president. I would not be Western Section president had it not been for Edward Lawry, our Western Section secretary, who encouraged me to attend my first Section Meeting in Colorado Springs. I have not missed a meeting since. My wife Becky and I hope to continue to attend chapter and section meetings in the future. At one of the section meetings I am going with the ladies and let Becky attend the educational seminars and code panels!”

Blair was born in Marshall, Arkansas, in 1946. He was graduated from Augusta High School, Augusta, Kansas, in 1964, and from Wichita State University, Wichita Kansas, in 1973. He was an American history major, with minors in secondary education, political science, and world history.
He has been active in the military for twenty-two and a half years. He served in the United States Air Force, 1966 to 1970, as a precision ground photographic repairman. He was a still photographer in Kansas Air National Guard from 1970 to 1978.

In the Kansas Army National Guard, 1983–1991, he served in eight military specialties including combat infantry, combat engineer, battalion communications NCO. In December 1991, he retired with the rank of E-7, Sgt First Class.

Blair’s hobbies include l) woodworking—he builds miniature barns and furniture under the name of Buckey Beaver's Sawdust Factory; 2) military history— he has been studying the Battle of Pearl Harbor for the past four years; and 3) aviation. He founded and is currently president/museum director of the Augusta Air Museum, Inc., a non-profit museum dedicated to the acquisition, preservation and display of aviation and military history. The museum has over 12,000 items in inventory, ranging from an airmail stamp to an M60A3 main battle tank. The museum celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2006.
He and his wife Rebecca (Becky) Sue have been married for twenty-three years, and have four children and eight grandchildren.

	2007 President	IAEI WESTERN SECTION International Association of Electrical Inspectors




			2007 Western Section President Jerry Blair Augusta, Kansas “
My predecessor trained his entire life for the electrical profession; I had no idea what I was getting into. I have done many things in my life: I retired from the United States Armed Forces with 22-½ years’ service. I hold 8 military specialties (3 Air Force and 5 Army). I have been a grocery delivery boy and a checker; the youngest department manager in a discount store, a high school teacher, a junior college teacher, a gunfighter in an amusement part, a volunteer firefighter, a professional long-haul truck driver, and the smallest police officer in the state of Kansas until the first female was sworn in. None of these jobs required electrical code knowledge. “Then on September 8, 1980, I was hired by the city of Augusta, Kansas, as the city inspector—whatever that was! The retiring inspector spent exactly two weeks training me, and I was on my own. That is when I discovered that the job included enforcing the building, plumbing, housing and environmental codes. Along the years my responsibilities grew as the city adopted a mechanical and fuel gas code and assigned all zoning and subdivisions to me, along with making the city maps and being the draftsman. At that time, the electrical code was enforced by the superintendent of electrical distribution.“That is until 1982, when the city manager’s office informed me that I would be taking over the electrical inspection. Three days later, I found myself completely lost at a Missouri-Kansas Chapter meeting in Overland Park, Kansas, ‘participating’ in a round table discussion with Bob Pullen (NEMA), Ray Mullin (Bussman), and the chief electrical inspector from Kansas City, Missouri, and Wichita, Kansas. These distinguished gentlemen started some really in-depth code discussions, while I sat there saying nothing and feeling completely out of my league, wondering what all this was about. When Bob Pullen asked why I was not joining in the discussion, I informed them that I had been an electrical inspector for three days and knew absolutely nothing about the electrical code. To my utter amazement, these men stopped their discussion and started teaching me the electrical code. That was the beginning of my career and my association with IAEI.” After twenty-five years, seven months and one day, the city inspector of the city of Augusta, Kansas, retired in April 2006 from enforcing 3108 pages of code. Jerry Blair not only was the city inspector, he is a certified electrical, mechanical and plumbing inspector, and a Block & Associates tested journeyman electrician. Blair is now the 2007 president of the Western Section of IAEI. He has served twenty years as secretary to the Missouri-Kansas and Kansas Sunflower Chapters. For seventeen years, he was the Western Section representative for the Kansas Sunflower Chapter, which he helped establish—the first new chapter in the Western Section in over 25 years. For six years, he taught the NEC, electrical wiring, residential wiring, commercial wiring and industrial wiring at Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kansas. He also taught IAEI courses for the Kansas Sunflower Chapter and area electricians for the past ten years. The theme Blair has chosen for his tenure as Western Section president is: 1. Get involved with your chapter, Western Section and IAEI. 2. Bring in one new member. 3. If you are not a member, now is the time to join the IAEI team. 4. Get involved in the “I am Safety Smart” program. “I am looking forward to attending as many chapter meetings in 2007 as possible,” Blair added. “I will make every effort to attend all the chapter meetings in the Western Section during my tenure as president. I would not be Western Section president had it not been for Edward Lawry, our Western Section secretary, who encouraged me to attend my first Section Meeting in Colorado Springs. I have not missed a meeting since. My wife Becky and I hope to continue to attend chapter and section meetings in the future. At one of the section meetings I am going with the ladies and let Becky attend the educational seminars and code panels!” Blair was born in Marshall, Arkansas, in 1946. He was graduated from Augusta High School, Augusta, Kansas, in 1964, and from Wichita State University, Wichita Kansas, in 1973. He was an American history major, with minors in secondary education, political science, and world history. He has been active in the military for twenty-two and a half years. He served in the United States Air Force, 1966 to 1970, as a precision ground photographic repairman. He was a still photographer in Kansas Air National Guard from 1970 to 1978. In the Kansas Army National Guard, 1983–1991, he served in eight military specialties including combat infantry, combat engineer, battalion communications NCO. In December 1991, he retired with the rank of E-7, Sgt First Class. Blair’s hobbies include l) woodworking—he builds miniature barns and furniture under the name of Buckey Beaver's Sawdust Factory; 2) military history— he has been studying the Battle of Pearl Harbor for the past four years; and 3) aviation. He founded and is currently president/museum director of the Augusta Air Museum, Inc., a non-profit museum dedicated to the acquisition, preservation and display of aviation and military history. The museum has over 12,000 items in inventory, ranging from an airmail stamp to an M60A3 main battle tank. The museum celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2006. He and his wife Rebecca (Becky) Sue have been married for twenty-three years, and have four children and eight grandchildren.

2007 President

2007
President