Press Release
☷From Marine to Virginia Guard Soldier s Journey Across Continents
National Guard ( By Press Release office)
Feb 29,2024
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Staff Sgt . Joshua Johnson ' s military journey started with a casual invitation from a friend to hang out at the local U . S . Marine Corps recruiting station . At that time , he didn ' t even know much about being a Marine . After graduating high school and not having much going on , he decided to join as a combat engineer when the recruiter asked if he wanted to blow stuff up . Johnson deployed to Afghanistan and then later to Libya , where he served as a spotter on a sniper team . Coming back home , he realized he wasn ' t comfortable as a civilian and joined the National Guard . He joined the scout platoon and eventually went to Qatar , where he took the opportunity to attend an EMT class . After coming back from Qatar , Johnson and three other soldiers from his unit decided to attend sniper school . All four of them did really well and had a great time . Johnson later went on a deployment to East Africa with Task Force Red Dragon , where he became a sniper team leader . He was given various tasks , such as crisis response and providing security for U . S . facilities . Johnson supported the Department of State in a military capacity , just like he did in Libya when he was a Marine . He traveled to different countries and helped with missions in Nairobi , Mogadishu , and Durban . When he returned from Africa , Johnson continued as a sniper section leader and began his journey towards becoming a trooper with the Virginia State Police . Recently , he and two other Virginia National Guard snipers participated in a Finnish Sniper Championship and had an amazing experience . Johnson is still a sniper section leader and works as a full - time Virginia State Trooper . One of the highlights of his time in the National Guard has been teaching others . He enjoys sharing his knowledge , especially when it comes to preliminary marksmanship instruction .
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