Retirement Ceremony
On June 23, 2006, Gray retired from the U.S. Air Force after 20 years of service. His ceremony was held in the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial Chapel, with the Honorable Ron Sega, Under Secretary of the Air Force, presiding. We picked out a few photos from the ceremony and included them on this page for those interested in such things.
Dr. Sega was the third person for whom Gray principally wrote speeches during his two years in the Secretary and Chief of Staff's Executive Action Group. The first was Mr. Peter B. Teets, who was the Under Secretary of the Air Force and the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office. The second was Mr. Michael Dominguez, during his service as the Acting Secretary of the Air Force.
In this photo, Dr. Sega presents Gray with a letter from General T. Michael Moseley, the Air Force Chief of Staff. This was one of several mementoes presented during the ceremony.
To liven up his retirement speech, Gray put on hats from several of his assignments, including the hard hat he's wearing in the second photo. Everyone seemed to enjoy the hats as much or more than the speech. (The NCO who made up the "GrayMan" lettering for the hard hat was in the audience, which was a real treat.)
Many people were surprised at the variety of assignments Gray held during his eclectic and interesting career. Some folks were disappointed at stories that didn't get told -- like the adventure of building an igloo while stationed at Thule Air Base, Greenland -- but everything couldn't fit in the speech. (See his career highlights for examples.)
In the last photo, Gray and his wife, his dad, and his sisters pose in front of the 9/11 Memorial Chapel altar.
Note the Pentagon-shaped stained glass in the back, in memory of those who died in the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001. (Gray had worked in the Pentagon the day before the attack and was supposed to be there on the 11th as well, but an appointment in Alexandria kept him out of the building.)