New Member - Michael GRAY

NEW MEMBER LTC MICHAEL GRAY was commissioned in '77 and started in CPT Bill ANDERSON'S 15th Finance Company, 1CD, with Majors Gary ROSS and Robby ROBSON; worked in LTC Larry HACKER'S III Corps F&A Office '78 - '80. Established the RM office in Rheinberg, Germany in '81. Ran LTC Dixon FLYNN'S disbursing office at USAFACEUR in Heidelberg from '82 - '84. MSG Stan GILLESPIE and I had an exciting trip back to Heidelberg from inspecting our branch in Sinop, Turkey, after some East Germans hijacked an Aeroflot airliner and forced it down at the NATO airfield there. I took an internal review assignment next in the 420th Engineer Brigade in Texas, during which I was able to earn a CPA certificate, and commanded the HHC during a brief, critical period. I traded an RA commission for a USAR commission in '88 and went back to graduate school at the University of Texas. I spent a couple of weeks each year at the Finance School as a reserve faculty member, where I saw lots of Fort Hood and Heidelberg veterans, and deployed to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, for some combat zone audit work in '91. As a civilian, I supervised management audits of state agencies and universities for five years, then started a CPA firm in my home town. From about '95 to 2003, I did a few weeks of military audit work each year at DoD IG and the Office of the Joint Chiefs, and never saw Finance Corps people again. For the last 17 years, I've enjoyed running my own private practice, in which I employ four professionals, including an investments specialist. Jacque and I finally "started a family" in '97 with the birth of our first/only son, Jackson William. JW is now four merit badges and a service project away from earning the Eagle Scout rank.