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Tinker reservist transitions from Air Force sergeant to Navy ensign

  • Published
  • By Mike W. Ray
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Steven Johnson enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserves in 1995, where he was assigned to the Seabees, but switched to the Air Force Reserves in 2006. Recently he transferred back to the Navy Reserves, as a junior officer.

After 16½ years of enlisted service, Mr. Johnson wanted to become an officer and the Navy Reserve offered him that opportunity.

"His drive, and his never-give-up attitude, enabled him to find a way to become an officer," said Maj. Gen. Bruce Litchfield, commander of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center. General Litchfield issued the commissioning oath to Navy Ensign Johnson on Jan. 19, the day before Mr. Johnson's 43rd birthday.

"Ensign Johnson is a leader," General Litchfield added, disclosing that when Mr. Johnson left the Navy Reserve for the Air Force Reserve, "He brought some of his Navy buds with him." Six of his Navy shipmates all transferred to the Air Force about the same time he did, Mr. Johnson related later.

One of those was Master Sgt. William Willoughby, who, in accordance with tradition, became the first enlisted man to salute the newly commissioned naval officer. Ensign Johnson and Sergeant Willoughby met while serving together in the Navy Reserve, in the Air Cargo Unit. After they transferred to the Air Force Reserves, they were deployed together to Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan and were roommates for six months in 2010.

Leaving the Air Force Reserves was not an easy decision, Ensign Johnson said. "I'm leaving behind many good people to pursue a dream."

Ensign Johnson's transition to the officer ranks comes at a time of profound change in the Defense Department, General Litchfield noted. "The next three to five years will probably be some of the most turbulent times the U.S. military has experienced in our lifetime," because of budget cutbacks and changes in policy after being on a constant wartime footing for several years, he said.

Besides General Litchfield, other officers who attended the commissioning ceremony included Lt. Cmdr. Donald Wingard, commander of the Navy Operations Support Center in Oklahoma City; Col. Roger Helgeson, commander of the 76th Propulsion Maintenance Group; Col. Cedric George, commander of the 76th Maintenance Wing; and Maj. Ben Walker of the 72nd Aerial Port Squadron.

In the Air Force Reserve, Tech. Sgt. Johnson was attached to the 72nd Aerial Port Squadron (507th Air Refueling Wing) at Tinker Air Force Base, where he was assigned to the Air Terminal Operations Center as an Information Controller. He also had alternate duty as Squadron Security Manager for 130 personnel.

In the Navy Reserve, Ensign Johnson, a 1998 graduate of the University of Oklahoma School of Engineering, will be attached to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 22 in Oklahoma City. He will continue to work at Tinker, where he has been chief of the Test Cell Engineering Branch in the 76th Propulsion Maintenance Group since last September.

Previously he worked for General Motors in Arlington, Texas, as a production supervisor, and transferred to the old General Motors plant in Oklahoma City (what is now Bldg. 9001) in 2002, also as a production supervisor. Ensign Johnson left GM to work at Tinker in 2006 as a facility engineer in the 76th PMXG.

Ensign Johnson and his wife, Frances, live in Oklahoma City, as does his mother, Charlyn Johnson.

Mr. Johnson, a Shawnee native, has a tradition of military service on both sides of his family.

His grandfather, Lt. Col. Wallace Johnson, served in the U.S. Army. His father, the late Joe B. Johnson, was a retired Air Force technical sergeant. His sister, Sonya Weaver, was in the Navy Reserve for 14 years and works at Tinker as a financial analyst in the OC-ALC Aerospace Sustainment Directorate. His brother-in-law, Chief Master Sgt. Robert Weaver, retired from the Oklahoma Air National Guard, and his father-in-law is retired Air Force Tech. Sgt. Otis Del Torto.

In addition, Ensign Johnson has several uncles who have served in different branches of the armed forces.