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 JOINT
BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. – Knowledge and experience are
inseparably linked; they set the stage for great character
development. With a good attitude as a guide, one could gather
countless valuable lessons from daily life.
Sgt. 1st Class
Johnnie Horne (photo left), a Hattiesburg, Miss. native, is the
embodiment of this principled cycle. He has a good attitude and
consistently adds life lessons to his data bank of knowledge. He
serves as an observer-coach/trainer in counter improvised explosive
device lanes for the 1-307th Infantry Battalion, Joint Base
McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.
Horne's 13 years of active-duty
service as a mortar man in the infantry has taken him on four combat
tours to Iraq and Afghanistan. His real-world experience in handling
an array of difficult situations has shaped him into a resilient
Soldier and versatile O-C/T.
“You could say that I've had
training in countering IED's if you call experience training,” Horne
said with a chuckle. “I've had no structured training on IED's. I
draw from experience from the field that I've gathered. It's become
second nature to me.”
Horne's experience runs deeper than his
deployments to the Middle East; his roots reveal a proud heritage.
Horne is a third generation Soldier.
“We're all Army,” Horne
said with a powerful, yet comforting Mississippi accent. “I'm a
third generation Soldier. My grandfather served in World War II, my
dad served in Vietnam, and I served three tours to Iraq, and one to
Afghanistan.”
Horne's knowledge is not the only thing that
makes him an exceptional Soldier. His friendly nature gives him an
ability to create an environment to share his knowledge more
effectively.
“He's a very knowledgeable person, someone you
can turn to for advice because of the experiences he's accrued
throughout his military career, which has built his knowledge base,”
said Horne's supervisor, Capt. Peter McCain, 1-307th Inf. Bn. “Aside
from that, he's a very affable and amiable person. His temperament
makes him very easy to get along with.”
Horne attributes his
charismatic persona to a special person who left an indelible
influence in his life: his father.
“I get my motivation from
my father, who passed away from cancer in May 2011. He always told
me, ‘You've got do three things in life: within a day you've got be
able to smile, you've got be able to laugh, and you've got be able
to tell your wife you love her,' and that completes a day,” Horne
said.
At 38, Horne has been with his wife Cassandra for 20
years. Their daughter Ty is 16 years old. Horne recounts his
sentiment for his beloved wife with fondness.
“I started
dating her almost 20 years ago,” Horne said, laughing in unbelief at
the passage of time. “The number one thing that a married Soldier
needs is the support of his wife. My wife is my best friend and when
you're deployed that's all you need. You just need someone to talk
to get away from what's going on.”
Horne's success as an
exemplary person and noncommissioned officer, although well
supported by his wife and father's example, comes from his own
morals and decisions. It mimics Victor E. Frankl's philosophy on
success in the preface to his book, Man's Search for Meaning: “For
success, like happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it
only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's dedication to a
cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender
to a person other than oneself.”
Horne said when he wakes in
the morning, he's happy to be alive. “When you've seen how bad
things can be, it makes you feel blessed to be in the situation that
you're in,” Horne said. “You've got a roof over your head, you've
got food in your refrigerator and you're in the Army. Once you
become thankful for life, the rest comes easy, no matter what comes
your way.”
Article and photo by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Whitney Houston
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2014
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