thedrifter
09-13-04, 09:00 AM
Sergeant is rare active reserve drill instructor
Submitted by: MCRD San Diego
Story Identification #: 2004910182837
Story by Staff Sgt. Scott Dunn
MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. (September 10, 2004) -- As he watched paper scraps snowing over Brooklyn, N.Y., Johnson stood security and thought he was going to war. Before the World Trade Center towers fell in lower Manhattan a few miles away, he was making pancakes for his future wife Valentina Drozdova, a Russian immigrant from St. Petersburg. In one of those towers, Johnson said he had attended his most extravagant Marine Corps birthday ball ever with celebrities and $1,000 dinners. The November 2001 ball was more modest.
Johnson separated from active duty in 1998, and as a reservist, he was administratively supporting a reserve communications battalion in Brooklyn and working with the Naval Sea Cadet Corps, a program for children aged 13 to 17.
Johnson did not go to war, and instead, he continued supporting the Corps as an administrative Marine.
Marines in the Selective Reserve, for the most part, are weekend warriors who train for two months a year and one weekend a month. Some Selective Reserve Marines are active reservists who serve year-round and train with active duty units. An even greater rarity is when active reservists, like Johnson, serve with active duty units. Johnson is the only active reservist DI with Co. L. A gunnery sergeant and a sergeant with Co. I are two other AR DIs at the depot.
Capt. Patrick Klokow, Johnson's series commander, said the 5-foot-11-inch drill instructor puts an incredible amount of effort to make sure his recruits are the best they can be.
In his fourth cycle, Johnson and his DI team trained an honor platoon, a mark of excellence that Johnson always tries to reach.
"All DIs want their platoons to excel," said Klokow. "And Sgt. Johnson definitely takes it personally and puts his heart and soul into it. And he's a good mentor to the incoming drill instructors."
When the training platoons are north at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Klokow said Johnson wastes no downtime and teaches basic tactical skills such as marching in patrol formations when moving between different training events.
Before joining the Selective Reserve, Johnson was a mortarman. His first unit, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines was in Pendleton 10 years ago participating in the Hunter Warrior Experiment - Commandant of Marine Corps Gen. Charles C. Krulak's exploration of innovative tactics, techniques and technologies for urbanized battlefields.
In his current training cycle, an uncommon all-sergeant team leads the way: Sgt. Fernando Galvan, senior drill instructor; Johnson, the experienced drill instructor; and combat veterans Sgt. Jesse J. Dorsey and Sgt. Matthew C. Button.
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200491018306/$file/09di01_lr.jpg
Sgt. Herbert L. Johnson Jr. trains Platoon 3094 recruits Sept. 5, the day before Company L's final drill competition. Photo by: Cpl. Edward R. Guevara Jr.
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/71B8B4C7D14732F285256F0B007B7871?opendocument
The Drifter's Wife
Ellie
Submitted by: MCRD San Diego
Story Identification #: 2004910182837
Story by Staff Sgt. Scott Dunn
MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. (September 10, 2004) -- As he watched paper scraps snowing over Brooklyn, N.Y., Johnson stood security and thought he was going to war. Before the World Trade Center towers fell in lower Manhattan a few miles away, he was making pancakes for his future wife Valentina Drozdova, a Russian immigrant from St. Petersburg. In one of those towers, Johnson said he had attended his most extravagant Marine Corps birthday ball ever with celebrities and $1,000 dinners. The November 2001 ball was more modest.
Johnson separated from active duty in 1998, and as a reservist, he was administratively supporting a reserve communications battalion in Brooklyn and working with the Naval Sea Cadet Corps, a program for children aged 13 to 17.
Johnson did not go to war, and instead, he continued supporting the Corps as an administrative Marine.
Marines in the Selective Reserve, for the most part, are weekend warriors who train for two months a year and one weekend a month. Some Selective Reserve Marines are active reservists who serve year-round and train with active duty units. An even greater rarity is when active reservists, like Johnson, serve with active duty units. Johnson is the only active reservist DI with Co. L. A gunnery sergeant and a sergeant with Co. I are two other AR DIs at the depot.
Capt. Patrick Klokow, Johnson's series commander, said the 5-foot-11-inch drill instructor puts an incredible amount of effort to make sure his recruits are the best they can be.
In his fourth cycle, Johnson and his DI team trained an honor platoon, a mark of excellence that Johnson always tries to reach.
"All DIs want their platoons to excel," said Klokow. "And Sgt. Johnson definitely takes it personally and puts his heart and soul into it. And he's a good mentor to the incoming drill instructors."
When the training platoons are north at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Klokow said Johnson wastes no downtime and teaches basic tactical skills such as marching in patrol formations when moving between different training events.
Before joining the Selective Reserve, Johnson was a mortarman. His first unit, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines was in Pendleton 10 years ago participating in the Hunter Warrior Experiment - Commandant of Marine Corps Gen. Charles C. Krulak's exploration of innovative tactics, techniques and technologies for urbanized battlefields.
In his current training cycle, an uncommon all-sergeant team leads the way: Sgt. Fernando Galvan, senior drill instructor; Johnson, the experienced drill instructor; and combat veterans Sgt. Jesse J. Dorsey and Sgt. Matthew C. Button.
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200491018306/$file/09di01_lr.jpg
Sgt. Herbert L. Johnson Jr. trains Platoon 3094 recruits Sept. 5, the day before Company L's final drill competition. Photo by: Cpl. Edward R. Guevara Jr.
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/71B8B4C7D14732F285256F0B007B7871?opendocument
The Drifter's Wife
Ellie