Courtesy Photo | (From left to right) Maj. Terry Brannan, a Whitesboro, Texas, native, and the...... read more read more
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By Sgt. 1st Class Mike Brantley
10th Sustainment Brigade
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Accustomed to warm sunrises in her native Manati, Puerto Rico, Spc. Julitza Johnson recently enjoyed a Kuwaiti sunrise with her husband, Spc. Rickie Johnson, as they both reenlisted at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, on Nov. 18, 2008.
The Johnsons, both human resource specialists for the 10th Sustainment Brigade from Fort Drum, N.Y., are serving together in their first deployment. This also marks the first time they have been separated from their seven-month-old daughter, Jehaimie. "He misses his baby and it's only been a month," she said of her 21-year-old husband. Both said they reenlisted because of their daughter.
"We aren't thinking of only ourselves," she said. "For the next 18 years we will be thinking of her future so she doesn't have to work as hard as we have."
A lot has changed in their lives in the past two years.
They met in 2006 at Fort Jackson, S.C., when both were there for advanced initial training. He fell for her at first sight and she fell equally as hard for him, they said.
But there was just one problem.
"When we met, I tried to talk to her but she didn't know any English," the Virginia Beach, Va., native said. "We shared MREs and after she got comfortable with me, then she started talking more."
Julitza Johnson, 23, who first joined the U.S. Navy Reserve in 2005 and switched to the U.S. Army Reserve in Puerto Rico, decided to go active duty in 2006. "A group of us would have a translator in basic [training]," she said. "I ... followed everyone else's lead with what to do and learned English in two months."
She said she joined the military because the economy is low in Puerto Rico and she wanted to find a job. "I thought, 'I have to do something for my life,' so I joined the military to make my own money and to be proud of myself." She added that her family is very happy with her decision and they support her.
Rickie Johnson said that his father always said he was proud of him, and spoke to him about being a leader.
"He is proud of me for having a family and taking care of the bills and being a real man. He wanted more for me," he said.
Johnson, who worked as a mover, ice cream store manager, and a landscaper before he joined the Army, said he couldn't keep a stable job. "I stayed with my parents and decided to join the Army because I was tired of being a bum."
"It is so hard to get a job in the civilian world," he said.
Johnson says he too feels a lot of pride. "From the lifestyle I used to live, I never thought I'd be in the Army. I was going to do my four years and get out." He says he has grown up quickly with a wife and baby and now sees the military as a career.
They have each decided to stay in the military for 20 years and both enjoy their jobs as human resource specialists.
"When a Soldier first comes in the military, human resources is usually their first impression of the military," she said. "It is a lasting impression."
Johnson manages personnel accountability, finance and leave forms for more than 1,000 Soldiers, and her husband manages the awards section for the brigade. "Without us, who will do the paperwork?" she said.
They plan to take Rest and Relaxation leave to attend their daughter's first birthday in April.
Following redeployment later next year, the Johnsons will be leaving Fort Drum for Fort Eustis, Va., in February 2010.
| Date Taken: | 12.17.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 12.19.2008 09:17 |
| Story ID: | 27889 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 214 |
| Downloads: | 59 |
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