Johnsick, Louis, GSC

PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE NAVY.
After high school I attended a vocational school in Phoenix, AZ for diesel, automotive, and automotive-diesel training. The plan after graduation was to move back home with my parents until I found work and was able to get back out on my own. Well, nothing hardly ever works out the way you plan it and because of that I had a very hard time finding meaningful employment.

I told my parents that if I didn't have a job soon I was going to join the military. I went to the Air Force office first, but the recruiter didn't impress me in the least. On my way out of the building I stopped by the Navy recruiting station to pick up some brochures. Before I could open the first one NCC Nolte snatched me up and told me some sea stories and said all the right things. About a month later I was in bootcamp. So there you have it and I don't regret any of it.

WHETHER YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OR AS A CAREER, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECTION OR PATH YOU TOOK. WHERE DID YOU GO TO BOOT CAMP AND WHAT UNITS, BASES, SHIPS OR SQUADRONS WERE YOU ASSIGNED TO? WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR LEAVING?
I orginally joined the Navy under the Fireman Apprenticeship Program and shipped out the next day to RTC San Diego. A couple weeks after arriving I went back through classification in bootcamp. The counselor told me that I should have an "A" school because of my ASVAB score.

The top 3 choices on my dream sheet were EN, CM, and GS. Keep in mind...I had an occupational associates degree in diesel & gas engines, over the road AC&R, and transmissions. Was an EN or CM available...of course not; that would make too much sense. So I selected GS and was immediately informed that it required a six year contract instead of four years because GSE was an advanced technical field. I was guaranteed "C" school and meritorious advancement to E-4 upon graduation from "A" school (also known as "pushbutton").

IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN ANY MILITARY OPERATIONS, INCLUDING COMBAT, HUMANITARIAN AND PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS, PLEASE DESCRIBE THOSE WHICH MADE A LASTING IMPACT ON YOU AND, IF LIFE-CHANGING, IN WHAT WAY?
I was never in an actual combat zone, but I've made numerous deployments to the North Arabian Gulf. Most of my deployments were spent aboard various amphibious assault ships ranging from LHA's to various classes of LSD's. All of my deployments were unique for one reason or another.

I was stationed onboard the USS Aubrey Fitch FFG-34 when she was tasked with escorting Iraqi oil tankers through the Straits of Hormuz in 1988 or '89. We held the record for the most transits through the straits. If I remember correctly, we went through 36 times.It was also the first time engineers manned crew served weapons, namely the 25mm chain gun; what an experience.

I spent quite a bit of time navigating the mud flats of Iraq in 2004 as an Landing Craft-Air Cushion (LCAC) Craftmaster assigned to ACU-5. We were tasked with random patrols of the mud flats to deter Iraqi insurgents from attempting to damage the oil pipeline leading out to the oil platforms where our mother ship was maintaining station. What made it interesting were the night patrols and trying to avoid the local's fishing nets while using night vision goggles. It was an exceptional deployment thanks to a great crew.