Brett Johnson

As a child, Brett Johnson’s father instilled in him that it was every man’s duty to serve his country. Serving two decades in the Army on three different continents fulfilled that duty.

A native of Colon, Michigan, Johnson applied to only one college—one that had an ROTC program and a geology major. “As long as I can remember, I’ve liked rocks,” he said. “I’m not sure how I heard about Michigan Tech, but I heard they had a good geology program. So, as long as I can remember, I was going to Tech to study geology. It’s a good thing I was admitted because I didn’t apply anywhere else.”

Johnson received an Army ROTC scholarship and arrived on campus in the fall of 1978 as a married man. Brett and his wife, Jean, tied the knot that summer before his first year. Tech had assigned Johnson to a room in Wadsworth Hall, but he found a place in Chassell.

Highlights of Johnson’s Tech experience included geology summer field camp in different UP locations, Winter Carnival all-nighters, and going to Cliff Mine for ROTC weapons training. “Most of my favorite memories are not from my time on campus, but from other places in the UP.”

As part of the ROTC orienteering team, Johnson traveled with other students considerable distances to compete. “We went to Niagara Falls, someplace in Missouri, southern Ohio, and Sault Ste. Marie, Canada. It seems as though it was all on us to get ourselves there.”

Johnson completed Ranger School prior to his senior year at Tech. He graduated in 1982 and was commissioned into active duty as a transportation corps officer in Fort Eustis, Virginia. After that, he attended flight school at Fort Rucker, Alabama, where he was trained in UH1 Helicopters (Hueys).

“I was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell (Kentucky), but they’d already retired all their Hueys and were using Blackhawks. There was a big backlog of us needing to be qualified on Blackhawks, they sent a mobile training team to Fort Campbell to do it there, which was rare at the time.”

After spending three years in the 101st, Johnson applied for the Special Operations Task Force 160th where he spent another three years. He returned to Fort Rucker for the Captains Career Course before being assigned to Operation Just Cause—the invasion of Panama.

Johnson completed his one-year tour but stayed in Panama for another one-year assignment commanding a Blackhawk company. The orders were “unaccompanied,” meaning the Johnsons had to pay for Jean to travel and stay in Panama. Because of visa status, she had to leave the country every three months. “Sometimes we just took a weekend trip to Costa Rica, and that qualified for her leaving the country. So it wasn’t all bad.”

Intending to return to the 160th, he was instead sent to Fort Drum, New York, as the logistics officer for a brigade.

“We were deployed to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in Miami. We returned from that in October, and by Thanksgiving, we were alerted to Somalia (for Operation Restore Hope).”

After returning from Somalia, Johnson was moved to the Blackhawk Battalion as an operations officer. That meant another trip to Somalia.

“I joke with my wife that she spent way more time at Fort Drum than I did.”

Johnson returned to the 160th in command of a company at Savannah, Georgia, where he served for nearly two years. During a conversation at a formal event with a regimental commander, Johnson mentioned he would be interested in going back to Panama when his two-year command was over in three months. But just two weeks later, he received orders for Panama.

“I did some negotiations. I didn’t get my full two years in command, but close. And this time, it was accompanied. My wife was able to live on base with me.”

As part of Special Operations Command South, Johnson completed exercise planning with Central and South American countries. He traveled to many places like Argentina, Belize, Jamaica, and Uruguay.

As US forces were drawing down in Panama in 1999, Johnson was assigned to command an aviation maintenance battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, which he did for two years.

“After Fort Bragg, I was looking to retire. I was looking for something closer to home, and there was an Army Reserve unit in Chicago. I asked to go there. I was on leave between assignments when 9/11 went down.

“Every aviation reserve unit in the country fell under that brigade based out of Chicago, and I ended up traveling all around the country to various reserve units as they began to mobilize for action in Iraq as part of Third Army.”

Johnson had his retirement orders, but expected for them to be rescinded and for him to be sent to the Middle East. “My last day of active duty came, and I walked out the door. They mobilized the next week.” He retired from the Army as lieutenant colonel in 2003.

Returning home, Johnson worked for two years in the automotive industry. He had also put in a resume with COMTek, which supplied instructors to college Army ROTC programs. After not seeing any positions he liked, one finally opened at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, a few miles from his hometown.

“I interviewed and was hired on the spot. I spent 13 years working with the ROTC program at Western.”

Johnson admits not using his geology degree from Michigan Tech professionally, but jokes, “I learned that you shouldn’t fly into mountains.”

He credits his involvement in ROTC for preparing him for his career. “The training I received through ROTC, I used for a long time.”

Interview conducted as part of the Oral History Collection during Military Service Appreciation Weekend, hosted by the Office of Alumni Engagement, May 2–3, 2025.