Six-year-old Zack Johnson will have a new Minecraft backpack and be a full-fledged Cub Scout, older brother Nicholas will be getting ready to celebrate his 14th birthday and both will have a lot of new friends the next time their dad comes home.
This fall, as the leaves begin to turn, Col. Kenny Johnson will return from a four-month deployment to Bagram, Afghanistan, where he is monitoring and overseeing contracts as the director of Operational Contract Support for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan. While most Soldiers deploy in units as part of regular rotations in support of the train-and-advise mission called Resolute Support, some, like Johnson, are tapped individually because there is an immediate need in theater for their skill or knowledge level.
As far as deployments go, it's a short one. But, even with a fast-paced family life filled with school work, church activities, Scouts and family outings, that four months can seem like forever in the
minds of two boys missing their dad.
"We have a countdown for when he will be home," said mom Terri Johnson. "It's a time app on our phones. We are just about 50 percent from when he will return."
Needless to say, the Johnson family was a little surprised when their Soldier came home one day from his job as the deputy director of the Army Contracting Command-Redstone Arsenal to tell them he would be deploying soon.
"My first question was, 'How long?' When he told me four months, I thought, 'Okay, that's very much more doable than 12 or 18 months,'" Terri said. You never really know with extensions or delays. But we are hoping he'll return for fall break and for my birthday and Nicholas' birthday in October."
So far, two months have gone by quickly, with Nicholas enjoying summer Boy Scout camp, Zack and his mom participating in Vacation Bible School and a two-week trip for all three of them to visit family in the Austin area of Texas. Although Terri has taken the summer off from her job as a legal transcriptionist, she is busy getting ready to serve as the treasurer for the Heritage Elementary PTA and as program chair for the Redstone Arsenal Community Women's Club.
"I'll probably be a little over committed when Kenny comes home," Terri said with a laugh.
The couple met when Johnson, a Virginia native, was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas.
"We met on a blind date," said Terri, who was working for a semi-conductor company at the time. "I had just finished dating someone and a co-worker asked me if I'd be interested. I was hesitant because growing up in Austin, girls were raised to be leery of Fort Hood guys because they are so transient. But, I told her she could give him my phone number because I just knew it wouldn't work out. I thought, 'It's not going to work anyway, so who cares?'"
Soon, Johnson called and left a message, and it was his voice on the recording -- deep, rich, friendly -- that caught Terri's attention. She called him back, they had a great conversation and soon were dating.
"Once we met, I didn't worry about dating an Army officer until it got serious. He asked me to marry him, and I said 'Yes' even though it meant leaving my family, my career, my friends and everything I knew," she said. "It meant going into the unknown, but I still said 'Yes' because I knew I wanted to spend my life with him no matter where we went."
They were married by a Justice of the Peace and then had a traditional wedding a couple months later, leaving Fort Hood the day after the wedding for Fort Knox, Ky.
"We literally moved away the next day in a U-haul and my car," she recalled.
At first, Terri thought that the mobility required by her husband's job would hinder opportunities to continue her career. But, as a librarian and archivist, that mobility actually gave her more opportunities for a variety of work, including as a librarian at ECPI College of Technology in Virginia Beach and as an archivist at Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Texas.
It didn't take long for Terri to adapt to being a military wife. Besides Fort Knox and twice at Fort Hood and now twice at Redstone Arsenal, the family has also lived at Fort Riley, Kansas; Fort Monroe, Fort Lee and Fort Belvoir, Va.; and Monterey, Calif., where Johnson attended Naval Post Graduate School. Nicholas, who was born when they were stationed at Fort Monroe, was four years old in 2007 when his dad deployed for a year to Iraq. Zack was born after the deployment while they were living at Fort Belvoir.
"I'm thankful to have these two to keep me busy while Kenny is gone. I'm very blessed," Terri said. "We really like it here. We liked it the first time we were here, so we were happy to come back. There's always something to do. There is never a dull moment."
During their first assignment at Redstone Arsenal from 2011 to 2014, Johnson was the product manager for Integrated Fire Control, Integrated Air and Missile Defense Project Office, Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space. At the time, Nicholas was in the third to fifth grades at Columbia Elementary School in Madison. Johnson then transferred to the Pentagon for a one-year assignment before they returned to Redstone Arsenal. The moves were easy on the boys as Nicholas only missed sixth grade with his classmates and Zack started kindergarten after their moved back to Madison.
Between their summer activities, the family talks with their Soldier nearly every day by phone or email, and they Skype with him a couple of times a week. Although there are times when they miss their Soldier, the threesome is grateful for the summer and school activities that help make the deployment time go by quickly and the friends who have lent their support.
"A lot of folks have been praying for us," Terri said. "A lot of folks who I don't even know are praying for us. We've had many offers from a lot of friends and all our neighbors if we need anything. Thank God we haven't needed it yet. But just knowing that support is there if we need it makes this deployment much easier. That really means a lot to us."
When Johnson returns, he will come home to a loving family ready to spend lots of time with him catching up. They are hoping to introduce him to a new family member -- a cat -- and take him out to eat at his favorite Mexican restaurant in Birmingham. They also want to share family time at home, going to the movies and sporting events, and doing a bit of traveling in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.
And, they are all looking forward to several more years living in Madison as their Soldier dad returns to his deputy command responsibilities at ACC-RSA, and then to a brigade command equivalent assignment as the project manager for Radar Development for the Missile Defense Agency, where he will be responsible for the development, fielding and operations of ballistic missile defense radar systems.
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