Shadow Five

He thought he was ready to lead. The Marine Corps had other plans.

In 2004, twenty-four-year-old Marine Scout Sniper Stephen R. Johnson deployed to Iraq believing he was ready for war-and ready to lead his own sniper team.

Instead, he was paired with Sergeant Milo Afong, an experienced team leader who would become his mentor, partner, and brother.

Over the next seven months, they conducted nearly eighty missions across Iraq's volatile Euphrates River Valley. From long nights behind the scope to the Battle of Hit, Hill 110, and Checkpoint 25, Johnson learned that being a sniper was about far more than pulling a trigger-and that leadership had little to do with being the man in charge.

Drawn from the journal Johnson kept throughout his deployment, Shadow Five is a firsthand account of combat, leadership, sacrifice, and the extraordinary brotherhood forged between Marines at war.

Stephen R. Johnson is a Purple Heart recipient and former United States Marine Scout Sniper who served eight years in the Marine Corps from 1997 to 2005. During his 2004-2005 deployment to Iraq with 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines, he kept a journal documenting the missions, Marines, and experiences that would eventually become Shadow Five. More than two decades later, Johnson drew upon those journals and his memories to tell a story about combat, leadership, responsibility, friendship, and the bonds forged between Marines at war. Today, he works in finance and lives in Texas with his family.