Your Road to Success

Hawaii

Earn While You Learn! 

Become highly skilled and in demand

We produce conscientious, skilled journey persons who are well-rounded and proficient in operating and maintaining heavy equipment and who have industry-related safety credentials. 

To achieve this goal, we provide continuous learning opportunities for our apprentices and journey-level operators.

Hawaii Training Center

Apply

For Hawaii, Maui and Kauai residents, we will be accepting applications in 2025.

We will be accepting applications for Oahu residents in 2026.

Contact

Address
56-1160 Kamehameha Highway
Kahuku, HI 96731

Office Number
800-482-3162

Apprenticeship Office
(808) 232-2001
[email protected]

Requirements

To become an apprentice, applicants must:

  1. Be at least 18 years of age
  2. Be a high school graduate or have successfully passed the GED or C-Base test and provide a transcript of high school grades with the application
  3. Be physically fit to perform the duties of the trade.
  4. Be assessed and ranked by a general knowledge and hands-on test
  5. Have a valid Hawaii driver’s license showing current address in the island for training
  6. Have transportation to get to and from work site and classroom instruction
2024 Oahu Intake Status

We are currently sending out testing notices. This tab will be updated once all testing notices have been sent out.

We will be having testing during the month of November at the Kahuku Training Facility. The test is not industry related, it is a general knowledge and hands on testing. It is not a pass or fail test.

Everyone that completes their testing will be sent a ranking number on the waitlist that they applied for. Notices will not be going out till all testing has been completed.

Please use this tab to stay updated on the intake process.

Application Waitlist Status

The following are the rank numbers for applicants that are currently first on the waitlist. Click link below.

Application Waitlist Status

What you need to know while training
  • Appropriate Dress
    Report to the training center in clothing appropriate for work on a jobsite. Work boots, hard-hats, vests, face mask, etc. are required. Hard-hats and vests are NOT available, you must provide your own. If you register for a crane class, please bring your own gloves. Students in grade-checking classes will be required to bring a simple calculator with square root and percentage functions. Mechanic students need to bring welding hood and gloves.
  • Room and Board
    Room and board are provided free of cost to neighbor island apprentice and journey-level operators for trainings that require more than one day or will need to travel the day before the training. The JAC will schedule and email reservation information for confirmed trainings.
  • Drug Test
    Substance abuse testing will take place on the first day of training. This requirement also applies to journey-level operators.
  • Cancelations
    If you register for a class but later find you are unable to attend, please notify OE3 JATC as soon as possible. There is usually a waiting list for journey-level-upgrade classes, and cancellations will be offered to other members. OE3 JATC has a No-Show Policy, which states that failure to attend your registered class session without giving proper notification may result in forfeiture of training eligibility for six months.
    Branches of Training

    Training is provided for apprentices in three different branches:

    1. Heavy Duty Repairer (HDR) And Welder
    • 8,520 training hours are required, consisting of:
      • 8,000 on-the-job training hours
      • 520 hours of Supplemental Related Training (SRT)
    2. Construction Equipment Operator (CEO)
    • 6,520 training hours are required, consisting of:
      • 6,000 on-the-job training hours
        • 520 hours of SRT
    3. Paving Equipment Operator (PEO)
    • 4,440 training hours are required, consisting of:
      • 4,000 on-the-job training hours
      • 440 hours of SRT

    Applications for the Apprenticeship Program are only accepted during scheduled dates. Oahu and the neighbor islands are scheduled for intakes every other year. When intake dates are set, they will be posted here, in the Engineers News and at the Hall.

    Applicants must apply for the island they are a resident of. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Applicants go through a series of steps during the application process and will then be ranked and placed on a waitlist. The waitlist will be valid for two years. The number of applicants and when an apprenticeship class will start is determined by industry need.

    When applicants are selected to start the Apprenticeship Program, they must attend a four-week Probationary Orientation Period (POP) Class at the Kahuku Training Facility. (Applicants are not paid during trainings.) After completing their POP class, apprentices are dispatched to a signatory company for on-the-job training. Apprentices return to the Kahuku Training Facility after 1,000 hours of on-the-job training for two weeks of SRT to be tested and to monitor their improvement.

    Apprentices for the neighbor islands complete their POP class at the Kahuku Training Facility for four weeks. They then return to their home island to complete their on-the-job training. Their SRT for two weeks will also be completed at the Kahuku Training Facility. Meal allowance, housing and flight reservations will be provided for these apprentices.

    For Journeymen

    Besides apprenticeship training, the Kahuku Training Facility provides training to Local 3 journeymen who are in good standing and have 350 work hours with Local 3. The Hawaii Joint Apprenticeship Committee (JAC) instructors assist each other with training, but each instructor has a specialty.

    We offer classes in:
    • Equipment
    • Crane
    • Gradesetting
    • Paving
    • Mechanic and commercial driver’s license (CDL)
    Certifications are available in:
    • Forklift
    • Hazardous materials; disaster-site worker
    • Construction safety OSHA 500/501
    • MSHA
    • First aid CPR/AED
    Training Schedules
    Questions?