Did Anyone Know Gen Al Gray USMC Commandant??

2015-10-12T08:46:00-04:00

Old-timers may recall that in the late 1970s, several senior Marine generals were southerners: General Wilson was from Mississippi; the Assistant Commandant, Robert Barrow, was from Louisiana, and John Miller, who was General Gray’s boss at the time, was from Texas.

Sometime after the promotion ceremony, Brigadier General Gray was part of a panel at Quantico; he was asked to what he attributed his rise through the ranks from enlisted man all the way to general officer? Gray pondered the question for a few seconds and then replied, “Well, my career really took off when I realized that I was from Southern New Jersey.”

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Oct 12 at 2015 8:51 AM

2015-10-12T08:51:56-04:00

Love it! Yankee ingenuity!

Response by Sgt Tom Cunnally made Oct 12 at 2015 8:54 AM

2015-10-12T08:54:07-04:00

I love the story of when he visited the troops in Kuwait and one of the troops asked him about morale and entertainment. His response? There WILL be morale and I am your entertainment.

Response by Sgt Spencer Sikder made Oct 12 at 2015 9:02 AM

2015-10-12T09:02:35-04:00

A member of our detachment served with then Capt Gray.

Response by Sgt Tom Cunnally made Oct 12 at 2015 10:01 AM

2015-10-12T10:01:41-04:00

We had Chesty in my time but those who followed me had Gen Al Gray...& today there's General Neller..... Quite a trio of General Officers with a lot of humorous stories..

From: Military Times

The nominee for next commandant of the Marine Corps wears a memorial bracelet in honor of a Marine he never met.

Lt. Gen. Robert Neller wears a black cuff engraved with the name of Cpl. Eric Lueken, who was killed in Iraq's Anbar province in 2006 at the age of 23. The bracelet is a reminder of the responsibility that comes with the stars on his shoulder, Neller said.

"This is my, 'Hey, Lueken says be a general,'" he said. "'Make a decision, do something, make it better.' So that’s why I wear this."
[See More]

Response by Cpl Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 12 at 2015 10:30 AM

2015-10-12T10:30:26-04:00

He was my Commandant for a time.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Oct 12 at 2015 11:00 AM

2015-10-12T11:00:48-04:00

I had the pleasure of meeting Gen. Gray when the Library at Quantico was named in his honor (Afred M. Gray Research Center). It is located across from the Marine Corps University, where I used to instruct.