When Portage High School MCJROTC Senior Marine Instructor John Johnston retires at the conclusion of this school year, he will be going out on top. During his 17 years in charge of the ROTC program, he has helped it make a 180 degree turnaround.
Portage’s status as one of the elite ROTCs in the nation was solidified by the MCROA (Marine Corps Reserve Officers Association) Award, which the school has won twice in the last five years. The MCROA Award is given to the best school in a region comprised of 16 states.
The Portage ROTC has earned the distinction of being a Naval Honor School each of the last 10 years. However, the impact ROTC has on a school has a greater value that any award could carry.
“The value of this program is that the student takes something they never imagined they would take,” he said. “It has an edge to it. Students come in here and find out that all we’re doing is trying to teach you to have self-discipline. The value for a student being in here, and I think all students should be in here, is that you develop character.”
Johnston has been wearing the uniform as a marine and instructor for nearly 44 years. He served on active duty in the United State Marines Corps from 1970-1996. He will walk away with his head held high knowing that the Portage program is now in good shape.
“When I first got here, people kind of thought of ROTC as the dumping ground of Portage High School,” Johnston said. “Probably, for a lot of years, it could have been considered that. Kids have gravitated towards it. It took a long time to get the kind of kids in here that are representative of the whole school.”
The ROTC is home to 11 students in National Honor Society, football players, basketball players, cross country runners, students in the top 10 academically in their class and members of Student Council.
“We still don’t get some of the kids that I would like to get,” Johnston said. “People have this predisposition about what the military is about. You don’t want dumb people in the military. They’re not dumb; your officers are very bright people.”
Johnston, who is 60 years old, said age played a factor in his decision to retire. He may run for public office, start his own company or go out and teach leadership in the civilian world following his departure from PHS.
“We’re on top,” he said. “How many times in your life can you leave something that is in very good shape and you’re on top?”
Johnston’s ability to overcome a difficult childhood helped shape the type of leader, instructor, teacher and man that he is today.
“I grew up in a dysfunctional family,” he said. “My parents were divorced. It was pretty grim at times; I lived on welfare. I moved around a lot. I was abused, and maybe that’s why I understand a lot of kids at this school, because they are coming from that type of situation. Just because you grew up in a crappy situation, doesn’t mean your life has to be crappy.”
The Marine Corps provided Johnston with an escape from his difficult childhood and a way to make an impact. However, it also came with many sacrifices.
“I lost my parents the last five years, together, and I didn’t get to see my family very much at all,” he said. “I’ve always said that if you’re doing something that has value to it, it costs something. My reward is that I look back on my life and I feel pretty sated. Not everybody did what I did.”
Johnston believes that a key to success in life is combining character and intelligence, two attributes that ROTC harnesses in students.
“We really stress doing your best academically and being the best person you can be,” he said. “I will get on you very quickly if you’re not making good grades. I review every progress report and every report card. I don’t know if there are too many teachers that do that. I look at every one of them.”
Johnston and Master Sergeant Edwin Bowers provide ROTC students with a second set of parents.
“These guys want to please us,” he said. “You can be as hard as you want to be with subordinates as long as they think you care. They will bust their rear ends for you.”
After 17 years of working with the ROTC program, Johnston is still blown away by the number of hours his students give up. He has to turn students down because so many are interested in helping with civic service projects.
The ROTC has included many mentally handicapped and special needs students during Johnston’s tenure. He said their inclusion is good for every kid in the class.
“I had a student one time, who was always in trouble in here,” he said. “He was a bully type of kid. I assigned him one of our students who was mentally disabled. The kid got suspended one day because he punched another kid at lunch because the other kid was making fun of our disabled kid. I thought that was honorable.”
The idea that he has been able to have an impact on so many young people allows Johnston to leave with a feeling of satisfaction.
“When these kids are my age, I’ll be dead and gone, but maybe their life will have been better because of something I did or said in this program,” he said. “That makes me very satisfied.”