Fort Hood Soldier Making Her Community Better

1st Air Cav warrant officer puts others before self, volunteers to better community
DVIDS 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs Story
by Sgt. Christopher Calvert
January 31, 2014

Sgt. Christopher CalvertChief Warrant Officer 2 Penny Johnson, an electronic warfare technician with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, poses for a photo at Hood Army Airfield, Fort Hood, Texas, Jan. 29. Johnson is actively using her past experiences of dealing with physical and emotional abuse in a relationship to help others in the local community who are undergoing the same struggles.

Fort HOOD, Texas – Being a soldier and a single mother of two, some might say she has her work cut out for her.

But one warrant officer in the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade hasn’t let this stop her from volunteering her time to organizations in Virginia and Texas for the better part of the last decade.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Penny Johnson, an electronic warfare technician with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Air Cav. Bde., 1st Cavalry Division, has consistently volunteered her time twice a week to sexual assault and domestic violence shelters, child development centers, and family advocacy programs since 2008.

“I feel like I’m giving back to the community to those who need it the most,” said the Victoria, Va., native. “It’s all about helping someone other than just yourself.”

Johnson enlisted in the military as a watercraft operator in 2005. During this time, she advanced from the rank of private to staff sergeant in five years.

However, the road to entering the military was not without challenges.
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