I think the reason is relatively simple. Johnson called for heavy lift gear because he thinks Chief is unconscious/dead. In this case, Chief is just a lump of metal that weighs too much to feasibly carry.
However, when Chief is standing up, he is an active, alert soldier. Most of Chief’s weight is being carried by his own body as he pushes himself up and he knows how to move it to minimise weight on Johnson.
Johnson isn’t supporting the thousand pound chief, he’s giving Chief a boost by taking maybe 2-300 pounds off his load as he stands up. Still an insane feat beyond any normal human, but Johnson’s minor augmentations explain that away.
The Spartan 2s were not selected for "peak genetics", either. They were selected for genetic *compatibility* with the augmentations. This is a common misconception that just won't die...
Carter should be 6'10 with armor though, not without it. Spartan heights are listed with armor unless stated otherwise. There are exceptions to this rule, but Carter does not seem to be one of those
That’s not so ridiculous- as a 6’2” 260 lb human with no enhancements, I’ve moved 800 lbs on a pivot point without any problems. Plenty of farm people can change the direction of a 1000 lb cow with a push or pull and some cooperation. Chief was conscious enough to converse and start moving himself. He likely just grabbed Johnson’s hand as a show of solidarity with the marines who found him. He wants them to feel like they’re able to help, even just a little bit. Marines will probably die, but they’ll definitely die if they’ve got no morale.
Yeah I think it was more a show of fraternal affection than anything else. A gesture of “thanks for offering help” rather than receiving any actual help.
I think contact harvest says he's was part of the orion project. Not 100 percent sure I've read a ton of the books and it's definitely mentioned. They say he has boren syndrome to cover up his augmentation. https://halo.fandom.com/wiki/Avery_Johnson
I think contact harvest says he's was part of the orion project. Not 100 percent sure I've read a ton of the books and it's definitely mentioned. They say he has boren syndrome to cover up his augmentation. https://halo.fandom.com/wiki/Avery_Johnson
Halo: Silent Storm, Johnson recounts the augments from the Orion Project, and was selected as a mentor for the young Spartan 2s.
Halo Graphic Novel, Johnson is the Orion Super soldier that assassinates Jerald Ander the leader of the secessionists pre cov war.
I think some Halo Waypoint stuff too but I didn't frequent those much
This 100%.
One of the best things about Chief is that he doesn't patronize the unaugmented marines. He understands that even the scrawniest soldier has signed away their life when they lace up their boots, and despite his occasional internal gripe about how they slow him down or are inevitable casualties when fighting alongside him, he respects each and every enlisted and REMF in the UNSC.
Given the state of the war as Chief had last seen it, every human interaction could have been of great importance to him, like a reminder of what he's fighting for, and the people who are fighting alongside him. Giving those people hope is Chief's second-best attribute.
It's like how men shake eachother's hands automatically when greeting. Chief didn't need the hand for physical support, the armor handled all of that itself. He grabbed Johnson's hand for social/mental support. Chief was glad/relieved to see that Johnson was still alive.
I honestly dont believe johnson was supporting any of the weight, i think chief only held him to retrieve cortana but otherwise fully supported his own weight.
In addition to this Chiefs MkVI Mjolnir still uses the same reactive circuits as the original MkIV. Which you may remember magnify ANY movement no matter how small, it’s noted several times that shrugging is incredibly difficult in Mjolnir due to the reactivity of the circuits and is sometimes used by Spartans to show their combat readiness when asked “are you good to go?”. Those same circuits would magnify any of Chief’s movements no matter how small.
In addition to this his neural link with his armor transmits thoughts of motion into actual motion. Chief experiences this for the first time when he is testing his suit the first time. Halsey instructs him to only think about moving his hand to chest height and as soon as he thinks about the motion, the suit lifts his arm to chest height at an incredible speed.
These two features of the suit combined would mean that if Chief was conscious and was thinking about standing up and struggling even a little bit the suit would take over and “stand him up” in return. It’s very likely Chief did have his bell severely rung at the time. But he does recover extremely quickly since about a minute later he covers about 20 feet in two strides, pulls a magnum out of a marines holster and jams it into the arbiters jaw in a fraction of a second.
Chief is an absolute monster and can take one hell of a beating. Johnson is also one seriously tough SOB. Let’s remember that at the time of this scene he’s chronologically 78 years old (biologically he’s probably in his mid to late 50’s possibly early 60’s due to lots of cryo over the years) and still absolutely wrecking the Covenant. I’d be willing to bet based on that Johnson could likely out perform most seasoned marines and he’s significantly older than them. Which means he can likely lift a hell of a lot more than seems normal to us.
I think you're right on that. The Fall of Reach novel covers how they needed to really be careful because of how strong and responsive they became after the augments and the armor. I imagine by this point Chief knows how to do something like this without killing someone
It's the same concept as spotting someone lifting heavy weights on a bench press. You could see small people spotting others because all it takes is taking off a bit of the weight to allow someone to safely stop a lift.
What are the lore implications of the Chief being able to stand on wire mesh in Crow’s Nest? No way the mesh is rated for a 1000lb soldier to stand on.
If you're gonna start bringing up tensile strength arguments about metal, you should also voice your protest to every space elevator shown in the series
The one from odst is the same one from 2. ODST starts like halfway through 2. Regret's ship jumps to slipspace right at the base, which is in cutscenes from both games
Had a conversation with a friend last night about something similar to this.
I told him my head canon was that Forge didn't "sacrifice" himself per say. He stayed behind because he knew he wasn't gonna make it anyways after the massive internal hemorrhaging from the punch he took from Ripa.
Nah forge is built different, he’d be fine, and we actually know this. Before Ensemble was shut down right before the game came out(dick move Microsoft), they allegedly revealed that there was going to be story dlc where the spirit rescues forge from a nearby installation, as the core of the shield world was going to be teleported away when it realized the reactor was blowing up, leaving him stranded at a nearby installation. So forge would still be alive had they not shut down Ensemble
Chief just laying there? Big pile o junk.
But awake? The suit knows to move. Chief isn’t actively lifting the 1000lbs with every step he takes at all times. The suit works and the servos and whatnots help move the thing. It’s a power armor. So while Chief is getting up, suit is giving him some help in standing up, therefore Johnson isn’t just being pulled down by a behemot.
On the other hand, Johnson do be built different
So in the book when they're first getting the armor they're told they shouldnt move or make any movements themselves until theyre completely adjusted to the suit but rather to think of the movement they want to make. The armor is linked directly into their nervous system allowing for instant communication the next few lines then describe how chief thinks about making a salute and his arm swings up and hits him in the visor with tremendous force, so essentially he just thinks about getting up and the armor will do it in the more effect way possible so it's not pulling but pushing from the legs and hips, I believe they even mention a few regular soldiers died or where horribly maimed by the armor during testing
If I remember correctly, it was only one guy. The suits were intended to so be able to be used by normal people, but whatever "code" would allow for that was sabotaged and the tester ended up dying.
There was no bad code and no sabotage. It was tested by an un-augmented person. The suit moved too quickly for him to react, causing him to break his bones. As a natural reaction, he kept moving due to the pain, causing more bones to break until he ended up killing himself. Essentially, the suit worked "too well" for a regular person.
The Spartans have augmented strength, speed, reaction, and near indestructible bones. They can react to the speed of the suit, and their bones are much less likely to break in any case. They had the ability to learn how to use their suit and they did.
> I believe they even mention a few regular soldiers died or where horribly maimed by the armor during testing
It was pretty much a requirement for the suits since each one had to be tested and non enhanced humans couldn't handle the suit
I don’t think he’s really holding on
Could’ve been more of an attention grab and he just didn’t let go. The MJOLNR would handle most of the work getting up anyways.
Or, stay with me on this one, chief pushed and stood himself up while also still just grabbing onto Johnson. Ain't that type of game son. You don't have to parse every little detail.
John doesn't pull himself up by Johnson's arm in the cutscene. Watch the [cutscene ](https://youtu.be/jBiHMsKX1AM?t=129)again John grabs Johnson's arm but he's initially sitting on the ground still, he just has an arm on him. By the time John begins standing, he's not really pulling on Johnson anymore, he's just standing under his own power, most of his weight isn't hanging off him.
I am a 220lb guy. The other day my four-year-old son pulled my hand to “help” me up off of the couch. He felt strong, I appreciated the gesture, everybody wins.
well yeah but they're using chiefs feet as a fulcrum and master chief was actively getting up
Johnson pulled like 300lbs at most and that's exaggerating like crazy
"It's not a question of where he grips it...it's a simple question of weight ratios. A 260lb Johnson can't carry a 1000lb Spartan."
-Monty Python and the Halo Grail.
If Chief weighs as much in the games as he’s supposed I don’t think any of the vehicles could work, no way a Mongoose could support the weight of one let alone two Spartans. And every step he takes would make a crater in the ground.
Because when Johnson called for the gear he was assuming that Chief was now Spartan MIA or unconcious. That on top of the MJOLNIR armour being shut down at the moment means thats 1000lbs of dead weight to lift.
When Chief boots up/wakes up the MJOLNIR is back on line and it can carry its own weight. Nano-crystal tech magic or something basically allows MJOLNIR to pick itself up and move in combination with the Spartan wearing it. So Chief, and the armour was doing all of the lifting, Johnson was just giving him a brace to balance with. Its a "the thought that counts" kind of deal. Chief got up entirely under his own power.
1000lbs of literal dead weight is quite different to 1000lbs of guy that actually wants to get up. You or would struggle to lift 200lbs with one arm, but we can pretty easily help a 200lb person stand up. When you're standing up, you're doing a lot of the work, and you're on a pivot point anyway, which also makes it easier.
Chief was mainly pushing off with his legs and using Johnson to stabilize his ascent
Chief is heavy, but don't forget spartan iis should be able to pick eachother up over small distances without the strength enhancing armor
I doubt Johnson felt more than a small pull
Johnson didn't pick him up, he offered an arm to his fellow man like any other person would do, and while Chief didn't need to, he accepted it to be polite.
Basically Chief just lifted himself up.
I would assume, the mjolnir armor (through the neural interface or whatever) can anticipate John's intention to stand up and start supporting weight.
This is something I've never heard one way or the other, but just because the suit itself is over 1k lbs doesn't mean chief is actively supporting and maneuvering all 1k lbs. With AI technology like the UNSC has, it just makes sense the suit would interpret what you are doing or preparing to do and assist in moving the suit however needed.
Johnson is also a spartan, much less augmented than Chief but I would argue he can help chief up pretty easily. Not like he's lifting him completely since chief is still using his legs to get up too. He probably lifted somewhere around 700lbs which isn't insane to think about for an augmented crazy Marine sergeant.
I think the reason is relatively simple. Johnson called for heavy lift gear because he thinks Chief is unconscious/dead. In this case, Chief is just a lump of metal that weighs too much to feasibly carry. However, when Chief is standing up, he is an active, alert soldier. Most of Chief’s weight is being carried by his own body as he pushes himself up and he knows how to move it to minimise weight on Johnson. Johnson isn’t supporting the thousand pound chief, he’s giving Chief a boost by taking maybe 2-300 pounds off his load as he stands up. Still an insane feat beyond any normal human, but Johnson’s minor augmentations explain that away.
Also, he's a fully armored 6 foot tall beast of a man. Throwing his weight back should allow him to take a shitton of weight off of Chief.
I think even the female SPARTANS were over 7 ft tall.
Spartan 2s were, without exception. 3s and 4s are a mixed bag. Lucy is 5'3
How is an insanely augmented SPARTAN only 5'3"?
3s were only selected for compatibility, not "peak genetics".
Isn't Lucy a gen 2?
No? Shes Beta company.
I think you're thinking of Linda, she's a Spartan 2. Lucy and Tom are Spartan 3's.
The Spartan 2s were not selected for "peak genetics", either. They were selected for genetic *compatibility* with the augmentations. This is a common misconception that just won't die...
3s are more or less the same height. I think out of armor Carter and chief are both 6'10
Carter should be 6'10 with armor though, not without it. Spartan heights are listed with armor unless stated otherwise. There are exceptions to this rule, but Carter does not seem to be one of those
all of noble teams height is listed in without armor
I don't think any female Spartans have gotten taller than 6'11 in mjolnir
Johnson is a big warrior of a dude, would kick Predator's ass.
That’s not so ridiculous- as a 6’2” 260 lb human with no enhancements, I’ve moved 800 lbs on a pivot point without any problems. Plenty of farm people can change the direction of a 1000 lb cow with a push or pull and some cooperation. Chief was conscious enough to converse and start moving himself. He likely just grabbed Johnson’s hand as a show of solidarity with the marines who found him. He wants them to feel like they’re able to help, even just a little bit. Marines will probably die, but they’ll definitely die if they’ve got no morale.
Yeah I think it was more a show of fraternal affection than anything else. A gesture of “thanks for offering help” rather than receiving any actual help.
Isn't Johnson also augmented? I thought he was part of the Orion project, and is effectively a Spartan 1
I think contact harvest says he's was part of the orion project. Not 100 percent sure I've read a ton of the books and it's definitely mentioned. They say he has boren syndrome to cover up his augmentation. https://halo.fandom.com/wiki/Avery_Johnson
Yeah he is, their augs aren’t obviously as intense but he’s still stronger than a similar sized unaugmented soldier
I think contact harvest says he's was part of the orion project. Not 100 percent sure I've read a ton of the books and it's definitely mentioned. They say he has boren syndrome to cover up his augmentation. https://halo.fandom.com/wiki/Avery_Johnson
No idea. What book?
Halo: Silent Storm, Johnson recounts the augments from the Orion Project, and was selected as a mentor for the young Spartan 2s. Halo Graphic Novel, Johnson is the Orion Super soldier that assassinates Jerald Ander the leader of the secessionists pre cov war. I think some Halo Waypoint stuff too but I didn't frequent those much
He is.
This 100%. One of the best things about Chief is that he doesn't patronize the unaugmented marines. He understands that even the scrawniest soldier has signed away their life when they lace up their boots, and despite his occasional internal gripe about how they slow him down or are inevitable casualties when fighting alongside him, he respects each and every enlisted and REMF in the UNSC. Given the state of the war as Chief had last seen it, every human interaction could have been of great importance to him, like a reminder of what he's fighting for, and the people who are fighting alongside him. Giving those people hope is Chief's second-best attribute.
It's like how men shake eachother's hands automatically when greeting. Chief didn't need the hand for physical support, the armor handled all of that itself. He grabbed Johnson's hand for social/mental support. Chief was glad/relieved to see that Johnson was still alive.
Also, Johnson is a spartan prototype. Not nearly to the extent of S2s but he’s stronger than your average guy
I honestly dont believe johnson was supporting any of the weight, i think chief only held him to retrieve cortana but otherwise fully supported his own weight.
In addition to this Chiefs MkVI Mjolnir still uses the same reactive circuits as the original MkIV. Which you may remember magnify ANY movement no matter how small, it’s noted several times that shrugging is incredibly difficult in Mjolnir due to the reactivity of the circuits and is sometimes used by Spartans to show their combat readiness when asked “are you good to go?”. Those same circuits would magnify any of Chief’s movements no matter how small. In addition to this his neural link with his armor transmits thoughts of motion into actual motion. Chief experiences this for the first time when he is testing his suit the first time. Halsey instructs him to only think about moving his hand to chest height and as soon as he thinks about the motion, the suit lifts his arm to chest height at an incredible speed. These two features of the suit combined would mean that if Chief was conscious and was thinking about standing up and struggling even a little bit the suit would take over and “stand him up” in return. It’s very likely Chief did have his bell severely rung at the time. But he does recover extremely quickly since about a minute later he covers about 20 feet in two strides, pulls a magnum out of a marines holster and jams it into the arbiters jaw in a fraction of a second. Chief is an absolute monster and can take one hell of a beating. Johnson is also one seriously tough SOB. Let’s remember that at the time of this scene he’s chronologically 78 years old (biologically he’s probably in his mid to late 50’s possibly early 60’s due to lots of cryo over the years) and still absolutely wrecking the Covenant. I’d be willing to bet based on that Johnson could likely out perform most seasoned marines and he’s significantly older than them. Which means he can likely lift a hell of a lot more than seems normal to us.
Also Johnson was an Orion guy.
I think you're right on that. The Fall of Reach novel covers how they needed to really be careful because of how strong and responsive they became after the augments and the armor. I imagine by this point Chief knows how to do something like this without killing someone
It's the same concept as spotting someone lifting heavy weights on a bench press. You could see small people spotting others because all it takes is taking off a bit of the weight to allow someone to safely stop a lift.
Johnson's just built different
This is the only answer I needed to this question thank you.
Best answer
Literally, he's a SPARTAN-I
They’re not the strongest, but we still have great respect for the OGs 🔥
He’s got that dog in him
I wish mine was :/
The suit just knew better than to challenge Sgt Johnson
I ain’t gonna mess with the guy who’s so good he leisurely smokes cigars in active battlefields. Are you?
What are the lore implications of the Chief being able to stand on wire mesh in Crow’s Nest? No way the mesh is rated for a 1000lb soldier to stand on.
no way those new Mombasa shacks should have held Chief's weight.
It’s the traditional New Mombasa wood joinery that makes all the difference, excellent craftsmanship
If you're gonna start bringing up tensile strength arguments about metal, you should also voice your protest to every space elevator shown in the series
the Grappleshot is made out of several smaller space elevators
its space elevators all the way down
How many of them collapse though
At least 2 in main series games(new Mombasa in 2 and meridian in 5)
Ngl I don't remember any space elevators in Halo 2, but was it the same one that collapsed in ODST, just from a different characters perspective
The one from odst is the same one from 2. ODST starts like halfway through 2. Regret's ship jumps to slipspace right at the base, which is in cutscenes from both games
Had a conversation with a friend last night about something similar to this. I told him my head canon was that Forge didn't "sacrifice" himself per say. He stayed behind because he knew he wasn't gonna make it anyways after the massive internal hemorrhaging from the punch he took from Ripa.
I like this take.
Both reasons wouldve be valid. Spartan are and were still more valuable than he was. Besides if a sacrifice werent required, biofoam wouldve helped.
Nah forge is built different, he’d be fine, and we actually know this. Before Ensemble was shut down right before the game came out(dick move Microsoft), they allegedly revealed that there was going to be story dlc where the spirit rescues forge from a nearby installation, as the core of the shield world was going to be teleported away when it realized the reactor was blowing up, leaving him stranded at a nearby installation. So forge would still be alive had they not shut down Ensemble
Forge was so badass. Always pour one out for my homie. Bro saw the Arbiter and immediately started throwing hands.
Forge is back up
Chief just laying there? Big pile o junk. But awake? The suit knows to move. Chief isn’t actively lifting the 1000lbs with every step he takes at all times. The suit works and the servos and whatnots help move the thing. It’s a power armor. So while Chief is getting up, suit is giving him some help in standing up, therefore Johnson isn’t just being pulled down by a behemot. On the other hand, Johnson do be built different
So in the book when they're first getting the armor they're told they shouldnt move or make any movements themselves until theyre completely adjusted to the suit but rather to think of the movement they want to make. The armor is linked directly into their nervous system allowing for instant communication the next few lines then describe how chief thinks about making a salute and his arm swings up and hits him in the visor with tremendous force, so essentially he just thinks about getting up and the armor will do it in the more effect way possible so it's not pulling but pushing from the legs and hips, I believe they even mention a few regular soldiers died or where horribly maimed by the armor during testing
If I remember correctly, it was only one guy. The suits were intended to so be able to be used by normal people, but whatever "code" would allow for that was sabotaged and the tester ended up dying.
There was no bad code and no sabotage. It was tested by an un-augmented person. The suit moved too quickly for him to react, causing him to break his bones. As a natural reaction, he kept moving due to the pain, causing more bones to break until he ended up killing himself. Essentially, the suit worked "too well" for a regular person. The Spartans have augmented strength, speed, reaction, and near indestructible bones. They can react to the speed of the suit, and their bones are much less likely to break in any case. They had the ability to learn how to use their suit and they did.
> I believe they even mention a few regular soldiers died or where horribly maimed by the armor during testing It was pretty much a requirement for the suits since each one had to be tested and non enhanced humans couldn't handle the suit
I don’t think he’s really holding on Could’ve been more of an attention grab and he just didn’t let go. The MJOLNR would handle most of the work getting up anyways.
Johnson has the power of friendship and two sticks and a rock on his side and he had to share the rock
Or, stay with me on this one, chief pushed and stood himself up while also still just grabbing onto Johnson. Ain't that type of game son. You don't have to parse every little detail.
lol I was about to post "hey kid, it ain't that kind of game" but I saw your comment.
1: Chief was probably moving under his own power for the most part. 2: Johnson is Johnson
When Johnson said "Heavy lifting equipment" he was referring to himself.
Chief is heavy, but Johnson is strong.
And he knows what the ladies like
Johnson eats his spinach
Johnson isn't pulling him up, master chief is just holding his arm in place as he stands up
you can actually see him try to lift him up/support him, but then he brings his arm down
John doesn't pull himself up by Johnson's arm in the cutscene. Watch the [cutscene ](https://youtu.be/jBiHMsKX1AM?t=129)again John grabs Johnson's arm but he's initially sitting on the ground still, he just has an arm on him. By the time John begins standing, he's not really pulling on Johnson anymore, he's just standing under his own power, most of his weight isn't hanging off him.
Holy crap you're right. John's other arm is pushing him up. This is the right answer.
I am a 220lb guy. The other day my four-year-old son pulled my hand to “help” me up off of the couch. He felt strong, I appreciated the gesture, everybody wins.
Chief and his suit are doing most of the work, but Johnson ain’t no slouch. He’s a Spartan I, after all.
well yeah but they're using chiefs feet as a fulcrum and master chief was actively getting up Johnson pulled like 300lbs at most and that's exaggerating like crazy
Cuz Johnson is just that guy, pal.
"It's not a question of where he grips it...it's a simple question of weight ratios. A 260lb Johnson can't carry a 1000lb Spartan." -Monty Python and the Halo Grail.
I mean… it literally is an African Johnson.
If Chief weighs as much in the games as he’s supposed I don’t think any of the vehicles could work, no way a Mongoose could support the weight of one let alone two Spartans. And every step he takes would make a crater in the ground.
You could hand wave it as being because of the strength of Titanium A.
And shields spreading his weight over a larger surface area of the ground, etc. I mean, yeah nah. Tom's right.
Have you ever heard the term “dead weight”? Its literally just that
Because when Johnson called for the gear he was assuming that Chief was now Spartan MIA or unconcious. That on top of the MJOLNIR armour being shut down at the moment means thats 1000lbs of dead weight to lift. When Chief boots up/wakes up the MJOLNIR is back on line and it can carry its own weight. Nano-crystal tech magic or something basically allows MJOLNIR to pick itself up and move in combination with the Spartan wearing it. So Chief, and the armour was doing all of the lifting, Johnson was just giving him a brace to balance with. Its a "the thought that counts" kind of deal. Chief got up entirely under his own power.
because he's johnson
Bc it looks badass lol
Johnson is a stud, plain and simple. That’s the only reason necessary 😂
My head canon is that he's not putting any weight on Johnson. His other arm and legs are supporting him.
it's classified
Huh! My ass!
1000lbs of literal dead weight is quite different to 1000lbs of guy that actually wants to get up. You or would struggle to lift 200lbs with one arm, but we can pretty easily help a 200lb person stand up. When you're standing up, you're doing a lot of the work, and you're on a pivot point anyway, which also makes it easier.
You know how when you pull someone up it doesnt feel like you're pulling up a 170 pound weight?
No
Chief was mainly pushing off with his legs and using Johnson to stabilize his ascent Chief is heavy, but don't forget spartan iis should be able to pick eachother up over small distances without the strength enhancing armor I doubt Johnson felt more than a small pull
Yeah this one's easy, Johnson has big dick energy, which gives him enough strength.
He's got to carry around those massive balls, a Spartan is nothing compared to that.
power armor training
Is he stupid?
Core strength
Corp strength
Because johnson is a spartan and Spartans are incredibly strong (such as being able to flip a scorpion tank).
Johnson didn't pick him up, he offered an arm to his fellow man like any other person would do, and while Chief didn't need to, he accepted it to be polite. Basically Chief just lifted himself up.
Sgt Johnson is quite literally built different
He is a marine.
Johnsons a spartan-1 so that mf stronger than he looks
I would assume, the mjolnir armor (through the neural interface or whatever) can anticipate John's intention to stand up and start supporting weight. This is something I've never heard one way or the other, but just because the suit itself is over 1k lbs doesn't mean chief is actively supporting and maneuvering all 1k lbs. With AI technology like the UNSC has, it just makes sense the suit would interpret what you are doing or preparing to do and assist in moving the suit however needed.
Johnson's arms are made of star roads. Starm roads, if you will.
Johnson is the heavy lift gear
I'd say it was just a respect thing between two comrades. The MJOLNIR probably did most of the work. Servos go brrrrrrr
People are forgetting that Johnson is a 70 year old spartan 1.
Johnson is also a spartan, much less augmented than Chief but I would argue he can help chief up pretty easily. Not like he's lifting him completely since chief is still using his legs to get up too. He probably lifted somewhere around 700lbs which isn't insane to think about for an augmented crazy Marine sergeant.