Creating the Leaders of Tomorrow

Framed in the bright, afternoon light cascading in from the large windows of Wayne Hall, Colonel David Gray ponders a difficult question, his bright blue eyes darkening. The usual soft and sage expression, the type only years of experience and a lifetime of hard work can foster, hardens for a moment with his brow furrowed, which is something that happens more often than one might imagine for a Retired Army Colonel.

Gray, 53, retired in early 2010 after 30 years in the Army, leaving behind a storied personal history, including tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as a litany of educational posts from teaching at the Unites States Military Academy at West Point to the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization. The Illinois native has lived in 19 different locations in the United States, but now calls Wayne his home and his command, after taking over the presidency in July 2010.

Gray's resume indicates a person with many stories to tell, and he does not disappoint, often pulling anecdotal information from his past in order to more eloquently illustrate a point. He hardly comes off as garrulous, exhibiting instead the quiet, reserved tendencies one might associate with an author reading from his own work. Despite his amiable nature, Gray also gives the impression that he's not the type of person to disappoint, as he marks his personal failures by his perceived inability to help those under him grow.

Early on in his career as a young company commander, Gray watched a promising new soldier advance through the ranks faster than many others had before him. The soldier had just been promoted to sergeant when Gray received news that the young graduate of Ranger school had failed the Army's mandatory urinalysis. During the Non-judicial Punishment process, Gray was faced with a decision that would affect the soldier for the rest of his enlistment.

"Virtually every member of his command was there arguing for him," Gray said. "The decision was mine. At the end of the day the hard decision was to take his rank away. As a 26 year old company commander, that's a pretty hard decision to take a guy that you'd had a hand in personally getting ready for all this tough stuff, and then have to look him in the eye and say, 'You gotta own up.'"

Gray brings that notion to his work at Valley Forge, expressing his strong desire for cadets to lead by example.

"I knew coming out of the Army that this notion of serving the country gets in your DNA," he said. "As I started looking at jobs, it was about 'Where can I continue to serve the nation the best way I can and how can I make a difference?'"

His passion for serving the nation is helping to fill the void of what he calls a country that "is hungry for leaders." Gray argues that the United States of today needs leaders now as much as it did in its darkest times, and that is why he is attempting to create "ethically minded, citizen leaders of character" at VFMAC.

Those serving under him at the school, including his former Executive Officer at 1st Brigade Combat Team, Lieutenant Colonel Shawn Phillips, agree with Gray about the mission of the school. Phillips, a 1988 graduate of VFMAC and its current superintendent, sees Gray as an embodiment of the "ethically minded, citizen leader of character."

"Colonel Gray brings a seasoned combat veteran experience mixed with an appreciation of academia," Phillips said, adding that Gray is the quintessential military scholar.

In fact, Gray is a Ph.D. recipient from The Ohio State University where his focus was Military History. Gray's academic experiences contribute to the overall mission of the school, and help foster the idea of a "whole person," or as he accurately identifies it, a "renaissance person." The school is founded on five cornerstones, which are academic development, character development, personal motivation, physical development and leadership.

"We are a school, so obviously developing the intellect and preparing our graduates to go on the next level of schooling is at the core of what we do," he said. "But, I don't want to minimize the other four cornerstones because I think they are integrated and nested within that academic excellence pillar."

Phillips would agree with Gray, noting that Gray himself takes particular pride in the cornerstone of physical development.

"Don't go running with him, he'll smoke you," Phillips said with a grin.

Aside from worrying about the personal development of the students, being the president of an educational institution has other worries. Gray hopes that during his tenure as president he can break down any perceived barriers that the rather "austere" campus presents to the community.

Regardless of perception, as VFMAC continues to produce the much sought-after ethically minded, citizen leaders of character, its impact, and subsequently Gray's impact will be welcomed by the surrounding area.