Mention Louisiana swamps and likely the first thing that comes to mind is alligators—big alligators and lots of them. Wayne “Kip” Benoit, a United Steelworkers (USW) Local 750 member from Boutte, La., knows his way around swamps and gators and, in the latest episode of “Brotherhood Outdoors,” guides show host Tom Ackerman on an airboat alligator hunt.

The Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s (USA‘s) hunting and fishing series airs Thursday, Jan. 12, at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. EST on the Sportsman Channel.

While the lifelong Louisianan uses his airboat for hunting adventures, when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, he used it to help rescue and transfer patients from the intensive care unit of a New Orleans hospital to the ambulances waiting on high ground.

Heading down streets in a city covered by the flood with people wading by up to their necks in water was like being in one of those doomsday movies, something Spielberg might make; it was just unreal. People were stunned and, for the most part, very quiet and very cooperative.

Read more about Benoit and the gator hunt from USA’s Ken Barrett here, and click here for photos.

To all the members of Local 1505, I wish a happy and joyous holiday season and a very happy New Year!

David Johnson

Business Manager