{"id":128086,"date":"2024-02-26T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=128086"},"modified":"2024-02-28T08:30:20","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T08:30:20","slug":"from-marine-to-army-guard-soldiers-journey-across-continents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=128086","title":{"rendered":"From Marine to Army Guard, Soldier’s journey across continents"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n U.S. Army Infantrymen assigned to the East African Response Force (EARF) participate in an Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise (EDRE) to provide security at the U.S. Embassy, Mogadishu, Somalia, April 22, 2022. The EARF Deploys to support Department of State partners in fixed-site security and evacuation support to protect U.S. Government facilities and personnel and to enable U.S. Embassies to continue operations in challenging security environments.
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RICHMOND, Va.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Staff Sgt. Joshua Johnson\u2019s journey into the military began with a casual invitation from a friend to go \u201chang out\u201d at the local U.S. Marine Corps recruiting station. His friend had just joined the Marine Corps Reserve and, at 18, Johnson didn\u2019t even really know what a Marine was. He\u2019d just graduated high school and said, \u201cI wasn\u2019t really doing anything.\u201d When the recruiter asked if he wanted to blow stuff up, Johnson said yes and enlisted as a combat engineer.<\/p>\n

Over the next several years, Johnson deployed twice as a Marine. First, in 2010, he went to Afghanistan. He was attached to an infantry battalion that focused on \u201cclearing and seizing ground to pave a road for the creation of the Kajaki Dam in the Helmand Province.\u201d He enjoyed the experience and said it exposed him to what it means to be a \u201cwarfighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

After that deployment, he was asked by his lieutenant to deploy as part of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force, or MAGTF. Initially, he was slated to mobilize to Uganda, but then, when U.S. government facilities were attacked in Benghazi, Libya, his mission changed. He and his fellow Marines deployed to Libya as part of a trained and ready force. Their job was security, and Johnson served as a spotter on a sniper team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really know why somebody trusted me with that,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cBut that got me into the reconnaissance and precision fire aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson came home from Libya in 2013, toward the end of his contract with the Marine Corps Reserve. He considered a few career changes within the service but ultimately exited the military. Less than six months later, Johnson was back \u2014 this time as part of the Army National Guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized in a short amount of time that I was just not comfortable being a civilian,\u201d he admitted. He\u2019d missed the camaraderie he enjoyed while serving and, determined to continue along the lightly-trodden path of a sniper, Johnson sat down for an interview to join the scout platoon at the Lynchburg-based 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. \u201cI knew I wanted to go to the scout platoon because I wanted to go sniper school after having that exposure to being on the long guns in Libya. The scout platoon was the fast track for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Staff Sgt. Joshua Johnson, an infantrymen assigned to the East African Response Force participates in an Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise to provide security at the U.S. Embassy, Mogadishu, Somalia, April 22, 2022.
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Johnson\u2019s entry into the scout platoon was unique and conditional. \u201cYou don\u2019t usually get recruited into the scout platoon; you have to try out for the scout platoon,\u201d he explained. Still, he was admitted on a trial basis, assessed in the summer and made a permanent team member.<\/p>\n

Before he could go to sniper school, Johnson deployed to Qatar with the Bedford-based Alpha Company, 1-116th. He said it was a good time and provided an opportunity for self-development. \u201cA lot of people took up opportunities to go to school, and I took an EMT class that I thought was pretty cool,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After returning from Qatar, Johnson, alongside three other Soldiers from his unit, went to sniper school, where all four proved successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great time,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t ask for a better time or a better class in sniper school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson deployed to East Africa a few years later with Task Force Red Dragon. He was assigned as a sniper team leader on the East Africa Response Force. He was tasked with various military operations, including crisis response and security augmentation to the Department of State and other U.S. facilities and support for military-assisted departure or non-combatant evacuation operations. In this role, Johnson supported the Department of State in a military capacity, much like he\u2019d done in Libya years prior as a Marine. He traveled to multiple countries and helped support Department of State missions in Nairobi, Kenya; Mogadishu, Somalia; and Durban, South Africa.<\/p>\n

After returning from Africa, Johnson continued serving as sniper section leader and, within about a month of returning home, started his journey toward becoming a trooper with the Virginia State Police. More recently, he and two other Virginia National Guard snipers competed in H\u00c4YH\u00c4 2023, a Finnish Sniper Championship, held Aug. 25-27, 2023, near Taipalsaari, Finland. He called it \u201can absolutely fantastic experience\u201d and hopes to compete again and further advance his standings.<\/p>\n

Today, Johnson remains the sniper section leader and works full-time as a Virginia State Trooper. Of all the things he\u2019s experienced during his time with the National Guard, sharing his knowledge with others has been a highlight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of time teaching people in the National Guard,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re a scout or sniper, you\u2019re also teaching PMI, or preliminary marksmanship instruction, to people. I don\u2019t really consider myself to be a teacher, but I do find that I enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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U.S. Army Infantrymen assigned to the East African Response Force (EARF) participate in an Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise (EDRE) to provide security at the U.S. Embassy, Mogadishu, Somalia, April 22, 2022. The EARF Deploys to support Department of State partners in fixed-site security and evacuation support to protect U.S. Government facilities and personnel and to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127629,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128086"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128089,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128086\/revisions\/128089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/127629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}