Photo By Chief Petty Officer Spencer Fling | Machinist Mate 1st Class Vanessa Johnson, an instructor at Recruit Training Command...... read more read more
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Meet MM1 Vanessa Johnson! Petty Officer Johnson is a #MachinistsMate currently working as an instructor at Recruit Training Command (RTC).
Seventeen years ago, Johnson came to boot camp as a recruit out of Chicago. She joined with her twin sister, Vanity Johnson, as part of the buddy program that allowed them to join and serve at their first duty station together.
“We wanted to see the world and what better person to do that with than your twin sister?”
While her sister got out of the Navy after their first duty station, Johnson feels that they accomplished their goal. Petty Officer Johnson has deployed on 5 different ships, she has been stationed on both US coasts and oversees, and she has made port visits to countries all over the world. She says her favorite port visit was in London, but Hawaii is her most memorable duty station because her sister was able to live with her there.
“When I got orders to Hawaii and I asked my sister if she wanted to go with me to help with my family care plan, she was like ‘a free trip to Hawaii? Lets go!’ which was awesome and helped me a lot”
Now, Johnson is back where she started, at boot camp, and intends to close out her career in living in Chicago instructing Sailors and recruits and, most importantly, raising her family.
“I wanted to back here for my oldest son,” said Johnson. “He's going to be going to high school soon and I want him to have some stability and be back home around family.”
Like most of the world, Johnson’s mission changed significantly during the COVID pandemic. COVID Protocols made classroom availability for the Navy Instructor Training Course, which every recruit division command and instructor at RTC must attend to teach recruits, limited or nonexistent.
Johnson became part of an RTC team that is a critical to keeping RTC staffed with qualified instructors. She estimates that she has qualified more than 200 instructors at RTC since the pandemic started.
“I’m grateful to be a part of this because if we don’t have qualified instructors, recruits can’t be trained and graduate and go to the fleet. So our mission has been pretty important over the past year.”
In addition to keeping Navy boot camp running, the pandemic dramatically changed Johnson’s home mission, raising her two sons.
“All of the sudden my kids were doing school from home and the game changed. I had to get computers and better internet and find the best place for them to be setup at home. The level of support changed from the school and one of my sons went from honor role to off of it, so I had to step in a be a teacher at home as well. I also had to find a way to keep them engaged because they weren’t going anywhere. It has been very hard for them.”
Johnson says one of the keys to being able to maintain is the person who has been there for her since she started her Navy journey, her sister.
“She’s here in Chicago and works for the post office, so if I need anything, she is there for them along with my mom. They were there for them when we lived on the base. It has been a blessing being back in Chicago.”
Just last week, the Navy changed the posture for all commands, that allowed RTC staff the opportunity to do things, like go to a restaurant, that they hadn’t done in over a year.
“I took them to Buffalo Wild Wings and their eyes were huge and they were kind of shocked to be around other people in public that weren’t family. Out of all the things we’ve had to change for this pandemic, the kids have probably had it the hardest. I’m so glad to be able to finally get back to a little bit of normal for them most of all.”
#Hooyah MM1 Johnson!
| Date Taken: | 05.12.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 05.12.2021 13:59 |
| Story ID: | 396226 |
| Location: | GREAT LAKES, IL, US |
| Web Views: | 76 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, RTC Staff in the Spotlight: MM1 Vanessa Johnson, by CPO Spencer Fling, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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