Senior Chaplain CAPT Robert Johnson
US Naval Academy Command Chaplain
Chaplain Robert Johnson
Chaplain Johnson, a native of Centennial, Colorado, enlisted in the US Navy in January 1994, completing Electrician Mate’s ‘A’ School and Naval Nuclear Power Training Command prior to reporting aboard USS MICHIGAN (SSBN 727 Gold). At the conclusion of his active-duty enlistment, he studied at Bob Jones University, where he graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Pastoral Studies while concurrently serving as associate pastor at Hope Baptist Church in Greenville, SC. He then graduated from Bob Jones Seminary in May 2005 with a Master of Divinity and was subsequently commissioned as an active-duty Navy chaplain in August 2005. His ecclesiastical endorsement comes from the Associated Gospel Churches.
Operationally, Chaplain Johnson has served with 5th Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, deploying to Afghanistan from 2009-2010 as the Brigade Headquarters Group Chaplain for Task Force Leatherneck in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In addition, he was the Deputy Command Chaplain aboard USS NIMITZ (CVN 68), where he deployed to the Arabian Gulf in support of Operation Inherent Resolve in 2017. Later, he served as Deputy Chaplain, Third Marine Division, forward deployed on Okinawa, Japan from 2020-2023 followed by concurrent assignment from 2023-2025 as the Command Chaplain for III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group and 3d Marine Expeditionary Brigade, as well as the Deputy Force Chaplain for III Marine Expeditionary Force.
His shore tours include service at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, as the Command Chaplain from 2005-2008. From 2011-2014 he was assigned as the Deputy Command Chaplain at Naval Station Rota, Spain, where he completed JPME Phase I from the College of Distance Education at the Naval War College. Chaplain Johnson later earned a Master of Arts degree in Theology (with focus in Pastoral Counseling and Psychology) from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 2015 as part of the US Navy Chaplain Corps’ advanced education program. In 2017, he reported to the Naval Chaplaincy School and Center, serving first as the command’s Curriculum Manager and then as the Basic Leadership Course Officer until 2020, instructing over one fifth of today’s Navy Chaplain Corps. He assumed his current role as the Command Chaplain at the United States Naval Academy in May 2025.
Chaplain Johnson’s personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal (four awards), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (four awards), and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (three awards), along with various other personal and unit awards. He is a Fleet Marine Force Qualified Officer (Chaplain) and qualified Submarine Specialist (Enlisted). He holds a PhD in Leadership from Carolina University.
