Photo By John Crosby | Indiana National Guard Pfc. Aaron Johnson of Greenwood, Ind., the first place...... read more read more
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FORT BENNING, Ga. – He stands at 5 feet 2 inches, several inches shorter than the 14 other fighters in his 140-pound weight class. His corner is empty. He’s the sole fighter representing his home state of Indiana.
At 35, he is several years older than his opponents. But with age comes experience, and with experience comes resiliency.
He remains consistently calm, steady, fighting with the technical expertise of someone focused on winning the war, not just the battle.
This determination led Indiana National Guard Pfc. Aaron Johnson, Greenwood, Ind., to win the lightweight division title at the 2012, fifth annual National Guard Combatives Tournament hosted by the Warrior Training Center at Fort Benning, Ga., Sunday, March 18, 2012.
“I came out here with a mission,” said Johnson, still out of breath from winning the gold. “I feel like I’ve completed that mission. I came out here not knowing what to expect. Army combatives is no joke. I feel like I overcame.
Johnson, who joined the Indiana National Guard in 2009, serves as a chemical equipment repair specialist with the 438th Chemical Company, headquartered in Indianapolis.
Matches included ground tactics, strikes and chokes to defeat the opponent by knockout, decision or submission.
Johnson went undefeated as matches escalated from standard grappling, to intermediate striking rounds, to finally, the full contact, mixed martial arts championship cage match.
Roughly 150 of the National Guard’s fighters competed in the tournament, the largest yet to date.
“We like to bring everyone together to the same venue during this once a year opportunity to share compete, share skills and share ideas and advance the All-Army Combatives Program,” said Capt. Gary Dettloff, commander of Company A, Warrior Training Center, at Fort Benning. “We’ve had some great competition; over 26 states and territories have participated.”
Johnson spends more than 45 hours per week training to keep an edge on his competition, studying wrestling, kickboxing and jujitsu. He’s currently an instructor at the Indiana Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy in Greenwood.
He placed third in the 2005 Greco Roman Wrestling U.S. World Trials. He coached wrestling for the University of Indianapolis from 2004 to 2007. His fighting resume is seemingly endless.
This win was Johnson’s first time competing with the military. With this added notch in his belt, Johnson hopes to return next year with a team of Indiana Guardsmen.
“Hopefully this opens up some doors for the program in Indiana,” said Johnson. “I’d love to see Indiana put a team together next year, come back down here and win this thing.”
Although Johnson was the lone representative of Indiana at the competition, his circle of support was strong. His entire family drove from Indiana to watch him fight.
“We’ve been watching him fight for 30 years,” said his father, Bob Johnson who taught Aaron to wrestle at age five and coached him through high school. “I still get butterflies, it never gets any easier. We couldn’t be prouder.”
| Date Taken: | 03.20.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 03.21.2012 10:12 |
| Story ID: | 85528 |
| Location: | FORT BENNING , GA, US |
| Hometown: | FORT MOORE, GA, US |
| Hometown: | GREENWOOD, IN, US |
| Web Views: | 701 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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