April 2024 – Hero of the Month: Alfred M. Gray, Jr. , 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps

Al Gray died this month at the ripe old age of 95. It was my privilege to spend a day with General Gray in San Diego while he was Commandant of the Corps. I will never forget that day or him. He was simply a born leader. But his leadership skill was matched by his incredible creativity in developing new programs that revolutionized the Marine Corps and made it the finest fitting force in the world today. A Corps whose capabilities are now vastly disproportionate to their relatively small numbers.

A graduate of SUNY, he enlisted in the Corps in 1950 and served 41 years of active duty, rising in rank from Sergeant to Four Star General. I urge you to read more about him in Wikipedia or a fine article in Leatherneck Magazine (July 2018 edition).

When I met General Gray, he was here to attend a Military Appreciation Day at Club 33 San Diego Rotary. During that event, a select group of enlisted Marines received recognition for their service. General Gray made a point of escorting each of their wives and mothers to the stage as a way of highlighting their service and their sacrifice. It was profoundly moving and demonstrated his deep affection for his troops and their families.

I cannot do the man justice in the limited space here but I will highlight a few of his many outstanding achievements:

1. May 14, 1967 (he served 5 years total in Vietnam and personally deployed eight times on dangerous missions: “leading from the front.”) as Commanding Officer of what would now be called a Recon Battalion, three of his men were heading to a listening post and became confused in the darkness, unknowingly wandering into a mine field. One of the three was instantly killed after detonating a mine and the other two were seriously injured. Upon learning of the incident, Gray personally proceeded to the area, and went into the minefield to help them, calmly and methodically probing for and marking a safe path through the minefield until he reached the wounded. He administered first aid while waiting for reinforcements and then guided them thru the minefield so they could extract all three of their buddies and get the wounded to a field hospital. Both the wounded survived because of his efforts and no one was wounded during the extraction. For such bravery and initiative, then Major Gray received the Silver Star.
2. From his service in a Radio Battalion, Gray went on to recognize the need for and lead the way forward in the field of signals intelligence and cryptographic operations and eventually co-wrote the definitive manual on signals intelligence support for combat units. (For which the Corps later honored him by establishing the annual General Alfred Gray Trophy for Outstanding Communications Leadership and for his service in this field he was also inducted into The National Security Agency’s Hall of Fame.)
3. In the 1970s and 1980s, Gray presided over many profound changes in training, emphasizing large-scale combat maneuvers in cold-weather and desert battlefield conditions, was the father ofmodern maneuver warfare, focused the Corps on the importance of education for enlisted and officers alike and wrote in 1989 what is now considered one of the “holy trinity” of manuals on war fighting.
4. He started a “Commandant’s Reading List” and required everyone to read at least two books from that list every year. It has now become a permanent fixture of Marine life and professional development. One cannot emphasize enough his commitment to education and its transformational impact on the Corps. Hundreds of Marine enlisted and officers earn accredited degrees through a “Marine University” program he created.
5. Gray left his mark in other ways as well: if you visit the Pentagon you can walk past the “Commandants Row” of photos of all those who have served. Gray was the first to have his photograph taken in his Camouflage Utility Uniform rather than his Dress Blues and gleaming medals. And he is smiling. Asked why, he said: “I want to deliver an enduring message that all Marines are first and foremost combat riflemen. All other rank is secondary.”
6. After his tenure as Commandant , General Gray continued to volunteer as a board member on a multitude of Marine, military and intelligence committees. I counted at least 10 highly significant and they reflect the breadth of his contributions to the advancement of war fighting: such as the Defense Science Board, National Reconnaissance Office Gold Team, National Security Agency Science Advisory Board, Defense Special Operations Advisory Group, among others.
7. Former Commandant James Conway who also served under General Gray said at his passing that he could not think of another Post-World War II Marine leader who had a more profound impact on the Corps in terms of his leadership in technology, training, war fighting and educational innovation (some calling it “The Second Enlightenment of the Corps”), apart from being beloved by his troops. As one of his officers said: General Gray was a Marine’s Marine – a tough warrior and demanding task master with a heart of gold. In the toughest situations, he always saw the opportunity to make a difference and he never worried about who got the credit.” I can think of no better tribute.

RIP Sir. What a legacy.