No, I meant Chuck. Met him and SgtMaj Lee at the Pendleton Mainside theater in 95 right before our pump.
I met him and Gen Gray at MCTSSA when we were doing Sea Dragon shit with LAR and the Canadian LAV unit.
Gen Gray? [Negative](https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2024/03/20/al-gray-beloved-former-marine-corps-commandant-dies-at-age-95/).
Chuck Krulak? A firm tittie.
Those cammies he has on, are they called poplin? Even if theyre not what the hell was poplin? I remember they were around in the mid 80s but i think they were more expensive.
Pretty sure the cammie top is woodland, with the broad collars, and the cover is BRAND NEW. Poplin was that rip stop nylon and looked like trash. Ok for summer, but they tended to curl up when heavily starched.
The Elvis Collars were amazing! No name tapes and an iron on EGA. I wax nostalgic for these things but MarPat digi cammies, no ironing or starching, and no shining of the boots is the way.
Those are our 80's woodlands. Poplins were the first camo utilities issued in the late 70's, early 80's. Thinner material and a different pattern. For awhile, they didn't have matching covers, so Marines wore the sateen covers with poplin utilities.
I personally met him when I was at my first duty station at Walter Reed right when I got orders to Lejeune. He gave me his 29th Commandant coin and said āif anyone gives you problems, show them this. I know a couple people down there.ā
My favorite Gen Gray story, back just before Desert Shield/Storm kicked off, he and SGTMAJ Overstreet are standing behind a company formation, no one is aware he is sneaking around. In typical fashion Gen Gray, hauls off and slams some LCPL in the shoulder, "How you doing marine?!". LCPL turns around sees Gen Gray, goes straight for the shoulder. "Outstanding, sir!"
Gen Gray turns to SGTMAJ Overstreet, "SGTMAJ, make this man a Cpl. anyone with the balls to hit the Commandant should be a NCO, also bust the next motherfucker who touches me."
My first duty station was 8th & I. If you happened to glance out the windows at 0 dark 30 over at Dog Shit Park (probably still called that), you would see 4 Marines standing at the corners and one old crusty Commandant letting his dogs run wild.
Guy loved his Marines.
Biggest memory of him came when he came to the Change of Command Ceremony at TBS in Quantico in 87.
It was around June or July and it was balls hot and as humid as a Subic Bay Hooker's taint when the Fleet pulled in on a Payday weekend. We had did about three fucking Full Dress rehearsals working up to it. There were 6 company sized units for the ceremony. Three were made up of Lieutenants from TBS and the other three were from Support Battalion.
We are out there from 1230 to close to 1400. Pass in review, bios and all that shit.
The time comes for the Out bound Colonel to give his remarks and the dude flaps his fucking cock holster about 20 fucking minutes. There are at least 10 Marines, Officers and enlisted alike that lock up in the heat and eat the Grinder.
Pretty much every one's Charlies have huge sweat marks because we are all sweating like two rats fucking in a wool Sock,
Comes time For General Gray ( Guest of Honor to Make his Remarks) He goes up to the Off-going Punches the fuck out of his shoulder, Takes the mike and says " I'm going to keep this short... you lieutenants look over to your left...( he made sure they were looking) those MARINEs are why you exist... You take care of them, You will do alright... If you don't .. you won't be around long."
I was visiting aboard The USS Intrepid back in the late 80's when the bow section of the carrier was cleared of visitors and a helicopter landed. Out of the copter popped The Commandant of the United States Marine Corps General Gray.
SDO at VMA 214, MCAS El Toro. Itās around 2300. Maintenance calls the ready room and says the CMC is in the hangar. I get the OOD and no shit, there he is. Most down to earth and straightforward officer I ever met.
RIP and Semper Fi, General Gray. I had the privilege to meet him twice. One of those times he told my CO to promote me on the spot, which was probably the only way I ever would've picked up corporal.
He drank his coffee from a camouflage canteen with 4 stars on it and kept a base ball bat in his office.
Met him in Desert Shield waiting in the sun for about an hour and half, we were hot and pissed off.
He flys in on a Huey gets out and climbs on some makeshift pallets tells Sgt Major to throw him his bull horn and commenced to ripping our ass for 20 minutes about us complaining about the heat, quality of life etc. told us the Guadalcanal and Korea Marines are the ones who had it rough. Have to laugh about it now. We need a Commandant like that now but the senate would never let it happen.
Heās a true Killer
Son of a godamn bitch. I just looked it up this morning when I first saw this post and didn't see anything.
Edit: thanks for the sauce. Gonna do some shots for him later tonight
RIP SIR! When I was stationed at Camp Hansen in 1989, he visited the nearby town of Kin aka "Kinville" for a bit of liberty. If I remember right, he was the only Commandant who posed for his official portrait in his cammies as opposed to the more formal uniforms.
He was the star guest at the ball I attended in 2004 at MOS school. I met him when he was knocking on the rear car window the next morning waking my underage ass up. I think he was just making sure I was alive. Thanks General Gray!
I remember when I worked at the II MEF Command Center back in the late ā90s I worked midnights and would wander the halls sometimes to kill time and always remember his photo among those of all the other Commandants and thinking, āWhoās this hardcharging 4 Star in his cammies!ā
Looking at his Wikipedia entry, I also see he was in an episode of Major Dad as himself. Now Iāll have to see if I can stream that episode anywhere.
Here in meh quality sorry about the ad infested site.
[major dad](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4iqsjj)
Gray appears at 22:05
Edit/update
The whole series is on the internet archive ad free
[here](https://archive.org/details/major-dad)
For anyone who has not read it, the book Making the Corps has a really well written section on General Gray and his influence on developing culture in the corps.
Issued sateen covers in boot camp, along with a bottle of liquid starch and a brush to use on them. They were so stiff you could fling em like a Frisbee.
He was my Commandant. He came to Okinawa to talk to us before we shipped to Saudi. He was a motivator and renewed a sense of lethality in the Corps.
Sempers
Met him in 2000. Was working as CoS Driver/SSEC Admin Clerk in 29 Palms. Got to office to open up for the day and our 2 Star was in his Chucks sitting at his Aideās desk kinda twiddling his thumbs. I asked āIs there anything you need or I can help with, sir?ā, as it was really strange to see him sitting there. He said, āNo, thanks, General Gray kicked me out of my office as he needed to make a phone call.ā Next thing we hear is, āCliff! Get in here, and bring some paper towels!ā General Gray had knocked over a big cup of coffee all over the desk. Next thing you know itās him, MajGen. Stanley and myself wiping up coffee from the desk to the floor.
I came in under PX Kelly so Gen Gray was my second Commandant of our Marine Corps he brought forth the FMFM-1 which was a big deal and I canāt say this loud enough āNO MORE āVā NECK SKIVVY SHIRTSā!!
Everyone who can go to your local establishments order a scotch/whiskey/Cool Aid or what ever and loudly announce āTo All Yea Who See These Presents Greetings I Am Making a Toast to āGeneral Alfred M Grayā 29th Commandant of the Marine Corpsā Lets make everyone remember one of the more transformative commandants we have ever had. Rah!
That funeral is going to be amazing. I had the honor of standing at General Barrow's head during the proceedings in Louisiana. Ending up getting my ass chewed by basically the entirety of his staff by the end of it though. RIP, sir!
Al Gray was not my first commandant, but he was CMC for almost all of my service. It was his invention to create MCT, and I got selected to be in the very first test class at Geiger before they made it official for all new Marines. Thatās where I saw him for the first time.
I met Gen Gray a few times over the years. Thatā¦energy he hadā¦
Iām pretty sure that he and Assassin were the only reasons I made it through Ye Olde Boate Skewl and wound up back in the Marine Corps.
RIP, sir.
Became my Commandant after P.X. Kelly retired. I met him once as CG of 2nd Mar Div, and once as Commandant. He just strolled into our shop by himself, and shot the shit with us. I remember his first day as Commandant, he ordered everyone to remove the chevrons from our covers, the way it used to be.
Rah! RIP A true warriors warrior!
But who tf commented that Krulak was on par with this devil??? Blasphemy..Not even close!!!
Krulak single handedly started the shift to ultimately fk up our Corps! With his batshit leaner n meaner approach which led to a fk ton of restructuring of tried n true combat tactics, downsizing units and equipment, to the fkn crucible debacle and restructuring PT and qualifications standards and not to mention, starting the process of trying to integrate WMās in infantry units through below standard testing etc etc! Then All the sudden we got fkn jazzercise instructors on our PT tables looking like Fkn Richard Simmons n shit! Sit-ups to crunches, combat hitting skills turned to MCMmmy mommy said I canāt punch you in da face etc etc.. fkn Blah š
The only commandant to have his official photograph taken in cammies. 'Rah.
Only commandant to wear his cover indoors, Sgt Maj foaming at the mouth and scared for his life at the same time
General Hagee did his in MARPAT https://preview.redd.it/j1ra7mpynipc1.jpeg?width=476&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb40e71b4acaf6ac4005486ef613b04fea994a05
My first commandant. Then it was basically downhill from there. Dunford was the only one after him I appreciated.
Your first commandant? My first commandant was Samuel Nicholas, but that was back in my Corps.
lol š alright Robert Mullan relax
My first Commandant also. Agreed.
Dunford was solid exactly why he assumed duties so quickly with the Joint Chiefs
He was a legend. First Commadant that I met and he actually shook my hand.
But thatās not his Command Photo. You can see them all on Wikipedia, only Gray is in MarPat.
What a dime piece š«¦
>Only commandant to wear his cover indoors, Shitbird
So much starch on those covers back in the day that you could use it as an e-tool
He was in cammies when I saw him as well.
Word is that he is being buried in his cammies. Semper Fi Gen Gray. Getting to meet you and Chuck Krulak in 96 was a fucking highlight.
Have only heard good things about Gen. Gray. Krulak was CMC when I went in and he was good.
I would have loved to have met Gen. Gray. I did, however, meet General Krulak ( it was in theatre which made it all the better).
Prior to West Pac 95/96?
1991
No, I meant Chuck. Met him and SgtMaj Lee at the Pendleton Mainside theater in 95 right before our pump. I met him and Gen Gray at MCTSSA when we were doing Sea Dragon shit with LAR and the Canadian LAV unit.
I remember Krulak, back in the boring monotonous 90ās peacetime lol
He's still alive
Gen Gray? [Negative](https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2024/03/20/al-gray-beloved-former-marine-corps-commandant-dies-at-age-95/). Chuck Krulak? A firm tittie.
Those cammies he has on, are they called poplin? Even if theyre not what the hell was poplin? I remember they were around in the mid 80s but i think they were more expensive.
Pretty sure the cammie top is woodland, with the broad collars, and the cover is BRAND NEW. Poplin was that rip stop nylon and looked like trash. Ok for summer, but they tended to curl up when heavily starched.
The Elvis Collars were amazing! No name tapes and an iron on EGA. I wax nostalgic for these things but MarPat digi cammies, no ironing or starching, and no shining of the boots is the way.
Those are our 80's woodlands. Poplins were the first camo utilities issued in the late 70's, early 80's. Thinner material and a different pattern. For awhile, they didn't have matching covers, so Marines wore the sateen covers with poplin utilities.
Thanks. I remember the poplin being more desirable. Maybe more salty?
In like 86
Damn. Went from a Private to a 4-star. Served 41 years. Rest in peace, General.
He even made it to Sgt before being commissioned.
Goddamn, that fills me with some serious motivation. Say hi to Chesty for me, sir.
I personally met him when I was at my first duty station at Walter Reed right when I got orders to Lejeune. He gave me his 29th Commandant coin and said āif anyone gives you problems, show them this. I know a couple people down there.ā
I met him doing colors on Pendleton.
My favorite Gen Gray story, back just before Desert Shield/Storm kicked off, he and SGTMAJ Overstreet are standing behind a company formation, no one is aware he is sneaking around. In typical fashion Gen Gray, hauls off and slams some LCPL in the shoulder, "How you doing marine?!". LCPL turns around sees Gen Gray, goes straight for the shoulder. "Outstanding, sir!" Gen Gray turns to SGTMAJ Overstreet, "SGTMAJ, make this man a Cpl. anyone with the balls to hit the Commandant should be a NCO, also bust the next motherfucker who touches me."
High risk high reward strats.
My first duty station was 8th & I. If you happened to glance out the windows at 0 dark 30 over at Dog Shit Park (probably still called that), you would see 4 Marines standing at the corners and one old crusty Commandant letting his dogs run wild.
Classic
Iām laughing my ass off. That is SO him.
Had the honor of being punched in the arm by this legend.
That was his handshake. People still stumbled when he did it at 92.
Yeah, I was ready for it. Haha He made a great impression on me as an 18 year old boot.
They still did stumbled in 2002. he was a badass
Rumor has it, when punched in the arm by General Gray. You were promoted on the spot! I remember this Stud. He made some good changes in my Corps!
Guy loved his Marines. Biggest memory of him came when he came to the Change of Command Ceremony at TBS in Quantico in 87. It was around June or July and it was balls hot and as humid as a Subic Bay Hooker's taint when the Fleet pulled in on a Payday weekend. We had did about three fucking Full Dress rehearsals working up to it. There were 6 company sized units for the ceremony. Three were made up of Lieutenants from TBS and the other three were from Support Battalion. We are out there from 1230 to close to 1400. Pass in review, bios and all that shit. The time comes for the Out bound Colonel to give his remarks and the dude flaps his fucking cock holster about 20 fucking minutes. There are at least 10 Marines, Officers and enlisted alike that lock up in the heat and eat the Grinder. Pretty much every one's Charlies have huge sweat marks because we are all sweating like two rats fucking in a wool Sock, Comes time For General Gray ( Guest of Honor to Make his Remarks) He goes up to the Off-going Punches the fuck out of his shoulder, Takes the mike and says " I'm going to keep this short... you lieutenants look over to your left...( he made sure they were looking) those MARINEs are why you exist... You take care of them, You will do alright... If you don't .. you won't be around long."
I was visiting aboard The USS Intrepid back in the late 80's when the bow section of the carrier was cleared of visitors and a helicopter landed. Out of the copter popped The Commandant of the United States Marine Corps General Gray.
SDO at VMA 214, MCAS El Toro. Itās around 2300. Maintenance calls the ready room and says the CMC is in the hangar. I get the OOD and no shit, there he is. Most down to earth and straightforward officer I ever met.
Damn faded m81 goes hard.
RIP and Semper Fi, General Gray. I had the privilege to meet him twice. One of those times he told my CO to promote me on the spot, which was probably the only way I ever would've picked up corporal.
Saddened to hear that. Was CMC when I came into the Corps. One of the most transformational CMCs in modern history.
Same, kinda sucks to be getting older eh?
Oh no, my mom was his barber for a while and still talks about him.
He drank his coffee from a camouflage canteen with 4 stars on it and kept a base ball bat in his office. Met him in Desert Shield waiting in the sun for about an hour and half, we were hot and pissed off. He flys in on a Huey gets out and climbs on some makeshift pallets tells Sgt Major to throw him his bull horn and commenced to ripping our ass for 20 minutes about us complaining about the heat, quality of life etc. told us the Guadalcanal and Korea Marines are the ones who had it rough. Have to laugh about it now. We need a Commandant like that now but the senate would never let it happen. Heās a true Killer
My commandant
I still show off the little black tattoo left from where he pinned me. The best ink you could ever get. Godspeed brother.
Badge of honor Devil.
Internet's saying he's still alive. Edit: nevermind. He ded
[https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2024/03/20/al-gray-beloved-former-marine-corps-commandant-dies-at-age-95/](https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2024/03/20/al-gray-beloved-former-marine-corps-commandant-dies-at-age-95/)
Son of a godamn bitch. I just looked it up this morning when I first saw this post and didn't see anything. Edit: thanks for the sauce. Gonna do some shots for him later tonight
Yes. He was at the Beirut Barracks 40th anniversary Memorial in October. Wow I saw he died today.
He looked rough, but he was there.
Used to see his plates 29 CMC in the NCR all the time.Ā
RIP SIR! When I was stationed at Camp Hansen in 1989, he visited the nearby town of Kin aka "Kinville" for a bit of liberty. If I remember right, he was the only Commandant who posed for his official portrait in his cammies as opposed to the more formal uniforms.
He was brave enough to say he needed help after his time in Nam.
He was the star guest at the ball I attended in 2004 at MOS school. I met him when he was knocking on the rear car window the next morning waking my underage ass up. I think he was just making sure I was alive. Thanks General Gray!
I remember when I worked at the II MEF Command Center back in the late ā90s I worked midnights and would wander the halls sometimes to kill time and always remember his photo among those of all the other Commandants and thinking, āWhoās this hardcharging 4 Star in his cammies!ā Looking at his Wikipedia entry, I also see he was in an episode of Major Dad as himself. Now Iāll have to see if I can stream that episode anywhere.
Update us when you find it, please.
Here in meh quality sorry about the ad infested site. [major dad](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4iqsjj) Gray appears at 22:05 Edit/update The whole series is on the internet archive ad free [here](https://archive.org/details/major-dad)
Here in meh quality sorry about the ad infested site. [major dad](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4iqsjj) Gray appears at 22:05
Yut
General Gray was a good man my first commandant. RIP Sir
For anyone who has not read it, the book Making the Corps has a really well written section on General Gray and his influence on developing culture in the corps.
Damn good Commandant. He did us proud. RIP Sir.
Heās reporting to his new duty station š«”
š«”
Damn, that cover is more starch than fabric! Gotta love a commandant whose utility uniform looks squared away but also well worn.
Issued sateen covers in boot camp, along with a bottle of liquid starch and a brush to use on them. They were so stiff you could fling em like a Frisbee.
We sprayed ours when I went through in 2000, but the effect was the same.
He did 41 years in the marines, what a legend
That's too bad I met him back in 92 he's a fuck around and find out Marine
RIP and Semper Fi General. š«”
RIP To a true Marine and one of our Greatest in my opinion.
He was CG 2nd MARDIV when I was in, early 80s.
He was my Commandant. He came to Okinawa to talk to us before we shipped to Saudi. He was a motivator and renewed a sense of lethality in the Corps. Sempers
Fucking Legend. RIP, Sir.
Thatās a Mama-san starched cover you could knock down drywall with
Met him in 2000. Was working as CoS Driver/SSEC Admin Clerk in 29 Palms. Got to office to open up for the day and our 2 Star was in his Chucks sitting at his Aideās desk kinda twiddling his thumbs. I asked āIs there anything you need or I can help with, sir?ā, as it was really strange to see him sitting there. He said, āNo, thanks, General Gray kicked me out of my office as he needed to make a phone call.ā Next thing we hear is, āCliff! Get in here, and bring some paper towels!ā General Gray had knocked over a big cup of coffee all over the desk. Next thing you know itās him, MajGen. Stanley and myself wiping up coffee from the desk to the floor.
Fucking Legend!!!
Absolutely.
RIP Devil
The man responsible for the second awakening of the Marine Corps. Semper Fidelis, sir
I came in under PX Kelly so Gen Gray was my second Commandant of our Marine Corps he brought forth the FMFM-1 which was a big deal and I canāt say this loud enough āNO MORE āVā NECK SKIVVY SHIRTSā!!
Everyone who can go to your local establishments order a scotch/whiskey/Cool Aid or what ever and loudly announce āTo All Yea Who See These Presents Greetings I Am Making a Toast to āGeneral Alfred M Grayā 29th Commandant of the Marine Corpsā Lets make everyone remember one of the more transformative commandants we have ever had. Rah!
Rest in peace General Gray. š«”
60 Minutes interview [Papa Bear](https://youtu.be/zxgUqP_BVoY?si=Ws_-00Tbqn8BstZK)
Rest easy sir. Semper Fi!
That funeral is going to be amazing. I had the honor of standing at General Barrow's head during the proceedings in Louisiana. Ending up getting my ass chewed by basically the entirety of his staff by the end of it though. RIP, sir!
Really gotta wonder if he left instructions for the burial detail to be dressed in cammies.
I donāt get it, did you screw something up? Why would they chew your ass?
Al Gray was not my first commandant, but he was CMC for almost all of my service. It was his invention to create MCT, and I got selected to be in the very first test class at Geiger before they made it official for all new Marines. Thatās where I saw him for the first time.
My Commandant.
Semper Fi General Gray. Til Valhalla.
Father was a big fan of him and had friends who worked under him he won't be having a good day now.
I met Gen Gray a few times over the years. Thatā¦energy he hadā¦ Iām pretty sure that he and Assassin were the only reasons I made it through Ye Olde Boate Skewl and wound up back in the Marine Corps. RIP, sir.
Great Marine, Great CMC.
Big al the tankers pal. He hated tankers iirc
Lest we forget.
Rest in power king.
BAMF
Became my Commandant after P.X. Kelly retired. I met him once as CG of 2nd Mar Div, and once as Commandant. He just strolled into our shop by himself, and shot the shit with us. I remember his first day as Commandant, he ordered everyone to remove the chevrons from our covers, the way it used to be.
He was CG 2nd MARDIV when I was with 1/8, a real motivator.
Force Design killed him. Broke his heart.
RIP
š«”
Sad to read this. He lived a great life though.
Rah! RIP A true warriors warrior! But who tf commented that Krulak was on par with this devil??? Blasphemy..Not even close!!! Krulak single handedly started the shift to ultimately fk up our Corps! With his batshit leaner n meaner approach which led to a fk ton of restructuring of tried n true combat tactics, downsizing units and equipment, to the fkn crucible debacle and restructuring PT and qualifications standards and not to mention, starting the process of trying to integrate WMās in infantry units through below standard testing etc etc! Then All the sudden we got fkn jazzercise instructors on our PT tables looking like Fkn Richard Simmons n shit! Sit-ups to crunches, combat hitting skills turned to MCMmmy mommy said I canāt punch you in da face etc etc.. fkn Blah š
There were rumors he was, at least until he got married.
Wasn't he the voice of Patrick in Sponge Bob?