Major General Isaac Johnson Jr.

Major General Isaac Johnson Jr. (born March 31, 1969) is a two-star American General of the United States Army Reserve and President and CEO of Texas Dow Employees Credit Union (TDECU). As a Citizen-Soldier Army Reservist, Johnson assumed command as the 11th Commanding General United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne), USACAPOC(A), at Fort Liberty in August 2022. USACAPOC(A) is the third largest major command in the United States Army Reserve and is involved in worldwide missions executing civil affairs operations, psychological operations, and information operations with over 12,000 soldiers and civilians.

Johnson was appointed as President and CEO of TDECU in June 2021. As CEO, the Houston Business Journal (HBJ) recognized Johnson as HBJ’s 2022 Most Admired CEO. He is on the Board of Visitors at the University of Houston.

Early life and education

Johnson was born in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. His father retired from the Army and settled in Gulfport, MS, and later Grand Rapids, MI. Johnson went to basic training in 1986 and was part of the Mississippi State University ROTC Program. He completed his BBA in Banking and Finance at Mississippi State University, MBA at Jackson State University, and JD in Law at Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Johnson completed executive studies in Business Education at Cornell University in 2016 and at The Wharton School in 2017. He also holds a Master of Strategic Studies from The United States Army War College.

Career

Civilian

Johnson has over 30 years of experience as a banker and financial institutions lawyer. He started his professional career in December 1992 as a financial analyst at Trustmark National Bank, where he served for six years till January 1999 as an Assistant Vice President. From August 2002 to August 2006, he worked at Thompson & Knight LLP as an associate in real estate and banking. He served as a Senior Counsel at Wells Fargo Bank from March 2008 to October 2014. From August 2018 to July 2020, he joined The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) as a USAA Executive Management Group Vice President and Corporate Secretary to the Board of Directors.

Johnson took the role of Interim CEO of Texas Dow Employees Credit Union (TDECU) in April 2021. He later gained the prestigious appointment in June 2021 as the first Black president and CEO of TDECU, Texas' fourth-largest credit union with $4.8 billion in assets and more than 370,000 member-owners. He leads a team of nearly 900 employees providing financial solutions. His tenured history with TDECU included positions as SVP, Chief Risk Officer, General Counsel, Chief Administrative, Legal, and Diversity Officer. TDECU was named a Top Workplace in the U.S. by Energage and ranked in the top 100 among large companies with 500 employees or more in 2022.

Military

Johnson is the third generation of Army Soldiers and served enlisted in the Army Reserve from 1986 before being commissioned a second lieutenant upon graduating from Mississippi State University Army ROTC Program in 1992. He served as an Army Finance Officer from 1992 to 2007. After graduating from the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School in 2007, Johnson became a Civil Affairs officer working in the Army Civil Affairs branch responsible for assisting commanders during deployments work with host nations' governments and their populations. He has successfully commanded Army units at every level, from company, battalion, and brigade to general officer-level commands.

Johnson has an extensive military background of over 36 years. He served deployments in Camp Doha, Kuwait as Finance Officer, 336th Finance Command (FY 00-01); Kabul, Afghanistan, CJTF-Phoenix I as Comptroller, 2d Brigade 10th Mountain Division, OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (03-04); Portau-Prince, Haiti as Strategic Planner, United States Southern Command, OPERATION UNIFIED RESPONSE (FY10-11); and Djibouti, Africa, CJTF- Horn of Africa, as Director of Operations, OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (FY13-14); Assistant Chief of Staff, C9, United States-Republic of Korea Combined Forces Command (FY18-19).

In 2019, Johnson was appointed Brigadier General for the U.S. Army Reserve 351st Civil Affairs Command. On August 6, 2022, he was promoted and granted the title of a two-star Major General in the United States Army. Mayor Sylvester Turner was in attendance and declared August 6, 2022, Major General Isaac Johnson Jr. Day. He assumed control as a commanding general of the United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) on August 13, 2022, which is the third largest major command in the U.S. Army Reserve, and is involved in a worldwide mission executing civil affairs operations, psychological operations, and information operations with over 12,000 soldiers and civilians. As the Army’s senior Civil Affairs general, he is responsible for recruiting, training, and deploying civil affairs operations capabilities, psychological operations capabilities, and theater information operations capabilities to support several types of missions worldwide. He also participated in Sustained Airborne Training in preparation for an airborne operation between the U.S., French, German, and Dutch paratroopers, as part of the 79th D-Day Anniversary in Saint Mère-Église, France, on June 3, 2023.

Johnson, as a representative of the U.S. Army, joined David Satterfield, director of Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, on November 28, 2022, to sign a memorandum of understanding for the institute to provide expertise to support the Army’s needs related to civil matters before, during, and after conflicts.

Johnson signed a memorandum between the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) and The Department of Agricultural Economics in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to formalize Texas A&M’s long-term support to USACAPOC(A) in the area of agriculture.

Johnson's military education includes Syracuse University DOD Comptrollership Program; Finance Officer Basic and Advance Course; Civil Affairs Qualification Course; Army Command and Staff General College; Advanced Operations Warfighter Course; Advanced Joint Professional Military Education II, Joint Forces Staff College; Stability, Security and Development in Complex Operation Certificate, Naval Postgraduate School; and United States Army War College with a Master Degree in Strategic Studies. National Defense University – CAPSTONE.

Assignments

Johnson's operational assignments as a Civil Affairs officer include Civil Affairs Planner with the 321st Civil Affairs Brigade; Strategic-Joint Planner with United States Southern Command; Commander, 405th Civil Affairs Battalion; CJ-33, Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa; Commander, 360th Civil Affairs Brigade (Airborne); Chief of Staff, 350th Civil Affairs Command; Assistant Chief of Staff, C9, United States-Republic of Korea Combined Forces Command; and Commanding General, 351st Civil Affairs Command.

Awards and recognition

Johnson’s highest military awards are the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and Foreign Award from the President of the Republic of Korea’s Order of National Security Merit Cheonsu Medal.

In his civilian capacity, Johnson and TDECU were also awarded a Corporate Titan Award at the 2023 Corporate Awards Luncheon during the Texas Black Expo’s 20th-anniversary summer celebration. He was also awarded as the HBJ’s 2022 Most Admired CEO.

Corporate board service

Johnson serves as a board director at Greater Houston Partnership, TexAct Texas Bowl, and Army Air Force Exchange Services ("Exchange"), the 54th largest retailer in the U.S. with revenues of $8.2 billion, 4,330 facilities in 50 states, four U.S. territories, and more than 30 countries.

Personal life

Johnson resides in Houston, Texas, and is married to Demetria Johnson. They have four sons David (accounting manager), Brice (wealth advisor with LPL Financial), Zachary (Loyola University Chicago), and Joshua (junior).

Johnson and his family attend Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston.