Alfred M. Gray Jr.


Alfred M. Gray Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1 July 1987 until his retirement on 30 June 1991 after 41 years of service.

Early life and education

Gray was born on June 22, 1928, in Rahway, New Jersey, the son of Emily and Alfred Mason Gray. The family moved to the Jersey Shore community of Point Pleasant Beach. He transferred from Rahway High School to Point Pleasant Beach High School, where he played baseball, basketball and football, graduating as part of the class of 1946.
Gray studied at Lafayette College, and received a Bachelor of Science degree from State University of New York. He has honorary degrees from Lafayette College, Monmouth University, Norwich University, the National Defense Intelligence College, and Franklin University. He married the former Jan Goss of Burlington, Vermont, on July 20, 1980.

Marine career

Gray enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1950. He served overseas with Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, attaining the rank of sergeant before being commissioned a second lieutenant in April 1952. His early tours included service with 11th Marines and 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division in Korea, the 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and Headquarters Marine Corps, Washington, D.C., during which he saw service in Guantanamo Bay and Vietnam.
As a major, Gray joined the 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division in South Vietnam in October 1965, serving concurrently as regimental communications officer, regimental training officer, and artillery aerial observer. He took command of the Composite Artillery Battalion and United States Free World Forces at Gio Linh in April 1967. In September, Gray was reassigned to the III Marine Amphibious Force in Da Nang where he commanded the 1st Radio Battalion elements throughout I Corps until February 1968. Following a brief tour in the United States, he returned to Vietnam from June to September 1969 in conjunction with surveillance and reconnaissance matters in the I Corps area.
After his Vietnam War tour, Gray served as Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, Battalion Landing Team; the 2nd Marine Regiment; the 4th Marine Regiment; and Camp Commander of Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan. While commanding the 33rd Marine Amphibious Unit and Regimental Landing Team-4, and concurrently serving as Deputy Commander, 9th Marines Amphibious Brigade, Gray directed the Operation Frequent Wind evacuation of Saigon in April 1975. Advanced to brigadier general in March 1976, Gray served as Commanding General, Landing Force Training Command, Atlantic, and the 4th Marine Amphibious Brigade.
Promoted to major general in February 1980, he assumed command of the 2nd Marine Division, FMF, Atlantic, Camp Lejueune, North Carolina, in June 1981. While in the position, he was a confidant to Vice-Admiral Arthur S. Moreau Jr., finding Marines for a covert team which targeted terrorists and drug traffickers.
Following his promotion to lieutenant general on August 29, 1984, Gray was reassigned as Commanding General, FMF, Atlantic/Commanding General, II Marine Expeditionary Force, and Commanding General, FMF, Europe. Gray was promoted to general and became Commandant of the Marine Corps on July 1, 1987. His appointment as Commandant of the Marine Corps was recommended by Jim Webb, then Secretary of the Navy.
Gray presided over changes in training in the 1970s with an emphasis on large-scale maneuver in desert and cold-weather environments, and changed Marine doctrine to one of maneuver warfare in the 1980s. This transformation from the Vietnam War-era is sometimes called the second enlightenment of the Marine Corps, and included development of a robust maritime special operations capability, emphasis on the education of leaders, establishment of Marine Corps University, and development of a long-range desert operations capability. As a reminder that the primary role of every Marine is a rifleman, he had his official photograph taken in the Camouflage Utility Uniform, the only commandant to have done so.

In popular culture

Gray appeared as himself on the Birthday Ball episode of Major Dad, a second-season episode that celebrated the 215th birthday of the Marine Corps. Appearing on 60 Minutes in the 1980s, he addressed the graduating class at the Naval Academy. He summarized the core of leadership—civilian or military, "If you come and join my Marines, I want you to know that your 'number one' job is to take care of the men and women you are privileged to lead."

Namesake

The Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, is the home of the Alfred M. Gray Research Center. The center houses the Marine Corps Archives and Special Collections, the Quantico Base Library, and the research library for the Marine Corps University, as well a conference center. Since 2004, as part of the Marine Corps Communications Awards Program, The General Alfred M. Gray Trophy is presented annually in honor of the 29th Commandant. The award bears his name due to his contributions to modernization in intelligence and communications. The Marine Corps University Foundation retains overall responsibility for funding the Trophy, and receives a grant from Sprint. A Marine Captain on active duty serving in the military occupational specialty 0602 Communications Information Systems Officer within the operating forces or supporting establishment is recognized with the trophy each year at an awards ceremony.

Awards and decorations





In 1991, he was awarded the Distinguished Sea Service Award by the Naval Order of the United States.

Post-Marine Corps career

Gray serves on the Board of Directors or Board of Advisors of a number of companies, including:
Gray is a member of the 2nd Marine Division Association, Marine Corps Association, Khe Sanh Veterans, Inc., and the Marine Corps League.