By Mike Barton
Public Affairs Specialist

Nate Johnson is a road warrior.

Sitting (finally) at his small desk in Naval Air Depot Cherry Point’s Aircraft Assessment Branch, you can see that he’s not really at home. He can’t sit still, talks fast about faraway places and wants to take a hammer to his computer. What good is a computer to a road warrior?

The 61-year-old “traveling” planner and estimator has just returned from his most recent trip to the Middle East, where he spent four months evaluating the extent of battle damage and above-normal wear and tear on 11 different types of rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft. He worked 12-hour-plus days, seven days a week to help return 80 aircraft to flight status. But you would be hard pressed to find any wear and tear on him from the experience.

In terms of experience, Johnson is the senior P&E at the NADEP. He spends 200-250 days a year traveling to anywhere the Navy and Marine Corps has aircraft. If you looked at his unassuming and undecorated office space, you’d never know that this is a guy who could put more pins in the map than most Marines.

When he first arrived here 25 years ago, he already had a lot of miles under his belt. It began in the 1960s when he joined the Air Force. After a year in Alaska, Johnson spent nearly four in Southeast Asia, where he served as a military courier between Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippine Islands.

Afterward, he combined a drafting background with the G.I. Bill to earn a trade in sheet metalwork. That and his drafting experience landed him a job here, but his travel experience made him a perfect candidate for the P&E position that soon followed. These days most of the road warrior’s travel time is spent performing aircraft service period adjustment inspections and in-service repair inspections, or teaching someone else to do it, including foreign students such as those he has taught in Egypt and Tunisia.

It’s no wonder that he looks out of place in his depot cubicle. This is a man who has stood on the rolling deck of four different aircraft carriers and other, smaller ships, drawing in the warm, salty air of foreign seas. He has walked on centuries old streets in old-world Rome. He has soared over bloodstained deserts astride battle-weary war birds in dozens of other locations where wounded aircraft needed his trained eye.

In the past year alone, he has twice visited the battleground to support “his Marines” in Iraq. “I like what I do,” says Johnson. “We’ve got to support the fleet and I try to do 200 percent for the fleet.” Like it or not, it can’t be all that easy for the man. In the immortal words of Indiana Jones, “It ain’t the years, it’s the mileage.” But like the Marines Johnson supports, he seems fueled by an incredibly strong commitment to duty. “I really don’t want to go (to the Gulf) again,” Johnson recently admitted to the depot commanding officer. “But if my Marines need me, I’ll go.”

Not bad for a guy who was born right after the end of World War II. His most recent trip to Iraq found him traveling by “anything that would fly” to Bahrain, Al Asad, Al Taqaddum, Al Qaim, Kalsu, Al Ideid (Qatar), Tallil and to Bagram, Afghanistan.

On Johnson’s desk is a copy of a letter sent to his commanding officer by the grateful Marine aviation maintenance officer for Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16 in Iraq. It contains nearly two full pages of very specific praise for Johnson’s support of the mission. A short taste of the message: “Mr. Johnson was nothing short of amazing, and there is no doubt that his work was critical to the success of our aircraft and maintainers and had a significant positive effect on aircraft readiness and availability in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II. In spite of inclement weather, austere conditions and rocket attacks, Mr. Johnson came in early every morning with a positive attitude ready to attack any issues that the new day might bring.” The letter praises Johnson’s technical expertise and logistical talents, as well as his willingness to travel anytime, anywhere, despite the high level of danger at some of the posts he visited.

Just as Johnson has earned the respect of the Marines, he has developed his own feelings for them. When he married Carolyn, his “little first lady,” nearly 39 years ago, she couldn’t have known that someday she would inherit hundreds of young Marines that Johnson has unofficially adopted throughout his tours in the field. “It’s kind of like one big happy family,” says Johnson as he shows photos of armor-clad Marines in drab desert colors. “I’ve met some of these guys as young lieutenants and have sort of watched them grow over the years.”

When will Johnson hit the road again? He doesn’t even look at his calendar before he replies with a date only a month down the road. There’s a bird down in New River that is waiting for a checkup. But now that he is home, Johnson says it’s time to baby his wife, who has endured this lifestyle for so long.

Suddenly still and relaxed with perhaps a remembered horizon in his eye, Johnson adds, “But I’m always ready for another adventure.”

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Cutline: Nate Johnson, pictured near hardened shelters on a base somewhere in Iraq, has been around the block more than most people. The planner and estimator spends the majority of his time traveling the globe in support of Marine and Navy aircraft. (Photo by Lt. j.g. James Bradley)