Intro: Major Jeff Johnson, US Army

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Jeff Johnson was truly an all-American kid growing up in Idaho. Of slight build, he nonetheless managed to excel at basketball and archery in high-school, was a quick study, and had lots of vocations. When he wasn't busy working on his father's farm, he was active in the county's Civil Air Patrol, soloing in a Piper Cub when he was 17. Although flight fascinated him, it was his uncle's tales of serving in Europe with Patton's 3rd Army as a tank commander, then later in Korea that thrilled him.

Transferring his mechanical skills from aircraft maintenance to working on cars, tractors, trucks and later enlisting in the Army in 1990, he went on to study at Fort Knox Armor School. He initially participated in both BRIGHT STAR '91 and REFORGER '93, and was stationed in Europe in 1994 for what he assumed would be his last tour prior to a stateside billet as an instructor at either Ft. Hood or Ft. Knox.

History had other plans, though, and with the summer of 1995 he was re-deployed back to Europe for what was assumed would be a tense but ultimately uneventful tour...

When the war went hot in the west, Johnson threw himself into his duties as TC with typical zeal. On more than on occasion, due to exigencies, he found himself in command of a short "team" consisting of two tanks and a reconnaissance vehicle, striking into Soviet units as NATO began to liberate East Germany, then go on to secure Poland and the southeastern Balkan states. In spite of sweeping successes, though, the events of 1997 left units in shambles with ever-decreasing resources of both men and vehicles. More often than not, Johnson found himself afoot as an infantry commander. His vehicle commands varied, sometimes using a modified M113 with a mounted Tankbreaker launcher as a "tank", sometimes behind the wheel of a Humvee. His last command was of an LAV-75 when his unit was called in to shore up crumbling front lines during the Summer 2000 offensive which had been planned to throw the Soviets out of Northern Poland along the Balkans.

Johnson is a quiet, unassuming man. He tries to stay cool under fire, and generally succeeds. He respects the men he commands, and regards it as his own personal duty to get as many of his men back to Germany and relative safety as he can until the mission in Europe is completed.

PICTURED: Johnson, working with Airborne units, somewhere in northeastern FRG (United), late 1999/early 2000