Mr. Donald G. Johnson

SUPPLY TECHNICIAN

Mr. Johnson is retired as a Sergeant First Class from the Michigan Army National Guard with 15 years of prior active duty service. He entered the Army in the delayed entry program in August, 1985 and took Basic Training and AIT at FT Dix, NJ in January 1986 as a Wheeled Vehicle Operator.

His first duty station was 590th Transportation Company in Mannheim, Germany where he was the Maintenance Platoon Driver and unit PLL clerk. In August 1989 he was assigned as a Squad Leader in the 497th Transportation Company at FT Lewis, WA. He was deployed to Saudi Arabia from October 1990 to April 1991, spending two weeks in Iraq. In May 1992 he attended BNCOC at FT Eustis, VA where he was the Honor Graduate. After graduation, he returned to Germany, where he was stationed with the 150th Transportation Company which later was redesignated the 69th Transportation Company. He performed duties as an Army Motor Vehicle Instructor, and accumulated over 135,000 accident free miles. He deployed from Germany to the Bosnian Theater from March to December 1996, where he trained as a PLS (palletized load system) and HET (heavy equipment transport) driver. In June 1997 SFC Johnson was assigned to Service Battery, 1/5 Field Artillery at FT Riley, KS where he served as the Battalion Master Driver and Schools NCO. SFC Johnson left active duty in February 2001, having enlisted in the Michigan National Guard, and joined 1461st Transportation Company in Jackson, MI. The unit turned in their 5-ton trucks and was redesignated 1461st Combat HET Company and his HET experience became very valuable to the unit. He served with the unit as Platoon Sergeant and Senior HET Instructor until his retirement January 2006.

SFC Johnson's awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal with 4 oak-leaf clusters, the Army Achievement Medal with 5 oak-leaf clusters, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the National Defense Service Medal, the Southwest Asia Service Medal with 3 Bronze stars, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the NATO Medal, and the Driver's Badge.

Contact Mr. Johnson at (269) 387-8132. E-mail him at Donald.johnson@wmich.edu