Johnson was one of the first African American men to be a helicopter pilot for the United States Army. He enlisted in 1947, and graduated from the Army’s helicopter flight school in 1956. In 1960, he was assigned to the Presidential Flight Detachment and flew for President Eisenhower during the Paris Summit Conference. Johnson fought in Vietnam in 1964, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for rescuing a downed helicopter crew during a combat mission. He was an aircraft maintenance instructor in the United States Transportation School until his retirement in 1967. Johnson was instrumental in founding the Negro Airmen International Organization and the United Stated Army Black Aviators Association, and was inducted into the Black Aviation Hall of Fame.