Homer Johnston
Sergeant First Class Homer Johnston is an American Rainbow operative that appears in the Rainbow Six and The Bear and the Dragon novels.
Biography
Homer Johnston was born on August 23, 1972 in Boise, Idaho. His father is a local logger while his mother is a secretary at a lumber mill. He was raised in true mountain man fashion, he shot his first deer at age 9. At some point, he enlisted in the US Army and was assigned to the 101st AirMobile at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Johnston later became a member of the Green Berets and Delta Force. Johnston found his way into Black Ops by 1989.
Rainbow Six
In 1999, Johnston was transferred to the newly formed Rainbow counter-terrorism unit. He was stationed at Hereford Base in England and was placed on Team 2 under Domingo Chavez. He and his new teammates conducted various training exercises in order to prepare for their first mission.
Bern, Switzerland
Three weeks later, a hostage situation erupted at a commercial bank in Bern, Switzerland after what appeared to be a robbery gone wrong. Following the execution of a hostage, the official order came down for Rainbow to handle the situation. Upon touching down at the airport, Team 2 was met by Marius Roebling who gave them a brief overview of the situation. Afterward, Team 2 geared up and disguised themselves as Swiss Police and traveled to the situation. After Eddie Price questioned Hans Richter, Ernst Model and Erwin Guttenach were identified as two of the terrorists inside the bank. Homer Johnston and Weber then perched themselves around the bank to provide sniper overwatch. Due to the layout of the building, Weber and Johnston were unable to see inside the bank, forcing Tim Noonan to plant surveillance cameras around the outside of the building.
Noonan's surveillance cameras revealed that the building could only be entered through the front and rear doors. Chavez's plan called for Scotty McTyler and Paddy Connolly to breach from the rear. A second later, Chavez and Price would breach the front left door while Louis Loiselle and George Tomlinson would breach the front right door as the terrorists were facing the wrong way. Johnston and Weber would continue to provide sniper support from their perches while Julio Vega would be on standby with his machine gun in case the raid went south. Shortly thereafter, Model made his final threat to kill another hostage in thirty minutes should his demand for airport transport not be met. Once Model's deadline expired, Chavez signaled Team 2 to breach as they had planned. Model and the other terrorists were killed in the ensuing raid. Their mission a success, Team 2 packed up their gear and returned to Hereford Base for the after-action report.
Vienna, Austria
A few weeks later, Team 2 was deployed on their second mission in Vienna, Austria where Erwin Ostermann and his staff had been taken hostage at his home. The leaders of the terrorists, Hans Fürchtner and Petra Dortmund demanded that several high profile criminals be released from prison and that they be given a helicopter transport to the nearby international airport, less they start killing the hostages. After Rainbow arrived at the scene, Johnston donned his ghillie suit and assumed his scanning position by the treeline overlooking the home.
The open layout of the building and number of hostages prevented Team 2 from conducting a direct assault. With their deadline fast approaching, Chavez decided to give them what they wanted. A few minutes before midnight, Eddie Price arrived at the home disguised as the getaway helicopter pilot. Johnston notified Chavez that Ostermann and Gerhardt Dengler were being escorted towards the helicopter by Petra Dortmund whose identity was confirmed by Weber. Johnston then reported that all the terrorists and hostages had left the building, promoting Chavez to order Team 2 to execute the operation. With his crosshair centered just below Dotramund's left eye, Johnston fired, killing her instantly and splattering Gerhardt Dengler. With the terrorists neutralized, Johnston made his way to the helicopter and helped Eddie Price pull Dengler from the aircraft. Johnston then used his canteen to rise Dotramund's blood off Dengler's face. With the hostage's safe, the mission was a success.
World Park, Spain
On April 2nd, former members of the Action Directe terrorist group assaulted a group of Thompson CSF employees at World Park and took thirty-five children hostage. Holing up at the park's command center inside a replica of a medieval castle, the terrorists demanded for the French government to release Carlos The Jackal along with several other Action Directe members. Once Rainbow was onsite, Chavez posted Johnston on top of a roller coaster called the Dive Bomber to provide overwatch. To reach the coaster unnoticed, Johnston dressed up as a mechanic and was escorted to ride. After he set up his equipment, Johnston radioed Clark to confirm that he was in place and sighted in his rifle.
A short time later, Clark ordered the park's engineer to cut the power to the park command center in order to promote negotiations between the terrorists and Paul Bellow. Consequently, this agitated them and caused René to demand that the power be turned on in ten minutes or they would start killing hostages. Unfortunately, the deadline elapsed and René ordered Andre Herr to select a child to execute in the courtyard outside. Through his scope, Johnston saw Andre take a terminally ill and wheelchair bound child named Anna Groot to the courtyard. He then watched helplessly as Andre took a pistol out and shot her in the back through the heart. Johnston notified everyone that he was on target but was ordered by Clark not to fire as it would have compromised the mission. Johnston reluctantly complied as Andre walked back into the castle. A short time later, Johnston noted that a terrorist had been posted on the caste's roof and advised Tim Noonan and Julio Vega of his position as they installed a small surveillance camera on a video of the command center.
A few hours later, René stated that they would kill a hostage every hour starting at 2200 unless their demands were met, prompting Clark to initiate the rescue operation. Team 2 boarded the Malloy's Night Hawk helicopter and flew towards the castle while Team 1 readied to enter the building from the underground tunnels. Once Team 2 was in place over the castle, Johnston shot and killed the terrorist who had been posted on the roof. This allowed Team 2 to safely rappel from the helicopter and start their breach of the command room from the windows. A short firefight broke out, resulting in the deaths of nine terrorists and the successful rescue of the hostages.
Andre Herr was the last man standing as he had been ordered by René to check the courtyard for activity moments before the breach. Johnston noted Andre's position and had Dieter Weber disarm him with his sniper rifle. Seeking revenge for Anna's death, Johnston purposely fired at Andre's internal organs, causing him immense pain. Johnson then immediately descended the coaster and headed to the castle to check on Andre's condition. He was met by the park's physician, Hector Weiler, who informed him that the shot had torn through Andre's liver and spleen and that under the current circumstances he would soon die. To Johnston's disappointment, Weiler administered morphine to Andre to ease the pain. Despite this, Johnston stood by Andre's side and looked him in the eyes as he slowly died. Satisfied, Johnston returned to the Dive Bomber to collect his gear and departed the park with his teammates.
The Bear and the Dragon
Psychological Profile
Definitive distance runner, relies on stealth and speed to set up his sniper locations. Expert with all forms of rifles. Spends free time hunting with Dieter Weber and spending time with his parents.
Trivia
- Chavez noted that during a shooting exercises, Johnston's marksmanship was an eight of an inch better than Team 1's longrifleman, Sam Houston.
- He is familiar with skydiving but prefers to have his feet on the ground.
- His is noted to be a definitive distance runner, relying on stealth and speed to set up his sniper locations.
- Johnston spends his free time visiting with his parents and hunting with Dieter Weber.