What I’ve Learned: Lenard 'Jay' Johnson

Photo By Staff Sgt. Connor Hancock | Johnson has worked for the U.S. government more than 30 years; 20 as a Marine, and 10 as a law enforcement officer. He played linebacker on the Headquarters Battalion football team and was offered two scholarships while in the Marine Corps.  

TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, UNITED STATES

06.24.2015

Story by Lance Cpl. Connor Hancock 

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - Johnson has worked for the U.S. government more than 30 years; 20 as a Marine, and 10 as a law enforcement officer. He played linebacker on the Headquarters Battalion football team and was offered two scholarships while in the Marine Corps.

I was born in Chinon, France, and call Houston home.

I have a daughter in the Air Force and a son who serves in the Marine Corps.

My hobbies are football, Martial Arts and recreational shooting.

When I was 16, I watched the Silent Drill Platoon perform and I was sold on enlisting. I just couldn’t believe the level of discipline I was watching.

When it was over, the team mingled with us. I realized I was talking to an 18-year-old who had more discipline in his uniform than I ever had in my whole life.

Shortly after, a Gunnery Sgt. handed me a business card and said, “When you’re old enough to be one of us, give me a call.” They never contacted me or harassed me, unlike the Army recruiters.

I enlisted for three years to get some experience with the goal of becoming a law enforcement officer.

I took the shortest enlistment contract every time because I was still looking to get out. By the time I opened my eyes and realized I was in for more than 10 years, my dad told me I was at the top of the hill. He said, “You can turn around and go back, or you can continue down the hill toward retirement.” So I continued down the hill.

In the restaurant of life, you’re the cook. You bring all of the ingredients to the future. When it comes you have to eat it, so have a plan.

In the 10 years I was in law enforcement, I never had to spray anybody and I never had to beat anybody with a baton.

Everything was intellect. I told the rookies, the most powerful weapon that you have didn’t get issued by the department. You were born with it.

I got them to use their heads so we could go out, finish our 12 hours and come back clean.

When I was a Staff Sgt., my Marines were loading up trucks for a field training exercise. They found a dolly behind the supply building and started loading with it. I asked them what they were doing. “There are 1,000 ways to do something,” Lance Cpl. Scaf replied. “We picked a way that produces less sweat and gets everything done faster. There’s a fine line between hard and stupid.” It woke me up. The mission was being accomplished.

It reminded me of the Headquarters Battalion motto, ‘Mission first, people always.’

Take care of your people and you’ve already taken care of the mission because they’ll take care of the rest.

That being said, it’s like that in law enforcement, it’s like that as a civilian, it’s like that in everything we do.

People are objectionable to changes. As soon as something comes out, they want to complain about it. You can complain, but you have to have a way to do it better.

I’ve never been the person to brag about all the things I did. I’m not going to come over there and say look what I did. I’d rather you’ve come and see what I’ve done.

A motivation in my life has always been to never back down from a challenge.

My dad used to ask me, “What are you of afraid of, that you might succeed?”

Learn to be assertive but never do anything with anger because anger is one letter from danger. In the time it takes you to put a “D” in front of anger, you’ve already screwed up.

My friends and I go shooting quite a bit. On weekends, we’re hitting bull’s-eyes.

We’ll take the ten ring and patch it, making it about the size of a quarter. We take three shots, and the closest group wins.

It’s all a gentlemen’s bet and we call it “dime time”, where everyone brings a dime and bets a dime. Whoever takes the shooting match walks away with the dimes. It’s about bragging rights. My son started shooting with me at 5 years old. He wanted to go, I never asked him to come. I believe as a parent, you shouldn’t force things on someone.

My dad forced basketball on me and I backed away from it out of rebellion only to get into football and discover I was good at it.

I was offered a scholarship twice while I was in the Marine Corps and turned it down.

My strategy in football was simple. There are 11 players; all I have to do is wait for one to make a mistake.

It’s the same thing in the Marine Corps and the same thing when dealing with terrorism. The bad guys are out there, just look for the one who’s going to make a mistake.

You’ll never see me wearing a football jersey with my favorite celebrity football player on the back of it. You’ll never see a pro football player wearing a camie blouse that has a service member’s last name on it.

Out of 112 recruits starting in my platoon at bootcamp, 55 Marines graduated but only two of us made it to retirement. We were the clowns who stayed in the pit in bootcamp because everything was funny to us. Everybody else who took it so seriously without margin for error didn’t make it.

• Date Taken: 06.24.2015
• Date Posted: 06.24.2015 20:14
• Story ID: 168013
• Location: TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, US
• Hometown: HOUSTON, TX, US