MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- Col. Eddie Ray has done some amazing things during his time in the Corps.
He revolutionized mechanized fighting, led successful counterattacks during Operation Desert Storm and even helped establish the Marine Special Operations Command.
However, few would guess Ray had a rough start in life. He grew up in Southern Los Angeles, an area plagued by violence and gangs.
"I grew up in the 60s and 70s in what used to be southern LA," Ray said. "My mother was killed when I was 15 years old in a traffic accident, and I dropped out of school."
Fate, as it seems, had a plan in mind for him.
"A football coach came to the house and convinced me to play football," Ray explained. "So I returned to school."
Ray looked for a successful football career ... until he got injured.
"I was playing with the University of Washington when I tore a hamstring muscle," Ray explained. "I could only play every other game if I felt up to it."
It was another cruel blow that left Ray feeling disheartened. He went for the fastest way out of town - the military.
"I just wanted to leave town," Ray said, thinking back on the memories. "I decided I would join the Army."
The Army would have worked well for Ray. His dad was an Army veteran, but there was a snag. He couldn't leave immediately.
"The Army recruiter told me it would be six months before I could leave," Ray said. "I wanted to go now."
Ray walked out of the Army's recruiting office. He didn't get far before someone else noticed his potential.
"A Marine recruiter caught me as I was walking out," Ray said. "I told him I wanted to leave, and he asked for my record. I left within a week."
Ray finished his training and was stationed at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., as an artilleryman.
"It was my intent to do a couple of years, travel and go back to school," Ray said.
Ray finished his bachelor's degree and his first tour before heading to the reserves.
"I figured if I was in the reserves I would go ahead and become an officer," Ray said. "Then I could come back to the reserves as a reserve officer."
Ray completed The Basic School and Officer Candidates School. He was an infantry officer.
"I got orders back to Twentynine Palms to be the commanding officer of Light Armored Vehicle Company," Ray said. "No one wanted to go there."
Ray's orders there turned out to be a highlight of his career.
"No one had ever come up with a way to use LAVs," Ray said. "We put together a concept of operations and rehearsed them over and over again."
The LAVs got some real attention.
"The whole concept of operations has been adapted by the Marines," Ray said. "It's now considered the way to run LAVs."
Ray then received orders to MCRD Parris Island, S.C., to be a recruit training officer. Ray's success didn't stay at Twentynine Palms.
"We were in a period of peace," Ray said. "Gen. Alfred Gray, the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps, did not think we were performing up to par in warfighting activities."
Gray's idea was to add another event to training ... Basic Warrior Training.
"When I got here, we started finding ways to teach recruits field weapon firing," Ray explained. "Gen. Gray wanted people thinking about field firing right away. Range shooting isn't what Marines are about."
Ray had his mission set up before him.
He went to Weapons and Field Training Battalion and asked for their ideas. He got them.
"I took their ideas and formed them into a concept," Ray said. "It changed how we do things."
It was a $4 million project that revamped training.
Ray's innovative ideas continued to follow him, even in the battlefield.
Ray transferred from Parris Island to the company commander of Bravo Company, 3rd Light Armored Infantry Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Twentynine Palms.
However, Ray didn't stay in California long. He found himself fighting in Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield.
"We were setting up and preparing for Iraqis to come across the border into Kuwait," Ray said, referring to the Desert Shield phase of his deployment. "We rolled in at the middle of the night and hit their position, then backed off."
The constant raids pushed the Iraqi forces back. There was no rest for Ray though. He and his company were needed at the command post.
"My company was assigned to secure the division command post," Ray explained. "They had received news the area was threatened."
It was.
An Iraqi brigade had made its way to the command post with artillery, infantry and armored vehicles. Ray had to fight them off.
"The enemy had come down and was still on a column formation," Ray said. "They sent in several vehicles, and we destroyed them."
Ray noticed a possible problem. These short battles were depleting their ammunition quickly.
"We could have stayed there and run the risk of running out of ammo, or counterattack," Ray said. "I chose to counterattack."
Ray had his LAV's, and he knew how to use them.
"I called everyone on me," Ray said. "I was the center, and every vehicle gathered around me."
It looked like a blitz from a football game.
"We broke through the enemy," Ray said.
Ray didn't know how good his decision was.
A majority of the enemy forces were still in the column formation. Once Ray broke through, there was no stopping him and his Marines.
"The enemy couldn't hit us without firing at their own men," Ray said.
Ray was awarded a Navy Cross for capturing more than 250 Iraqi soldiers and destroying more than 50 enemy vehicles.
"I wasn't thinking about getting an award," Ray admitted. "It was what needed to be done. When you're shooting, you don't think about awards. You're thinking about getting your Marines to live to see the next day."
The now-salty warfighter also used his experiences to help his Marines on their next deployment.
"We were deploying to Somalia for Operation Restore Hope," said Maj. Gen. Robert Neller, the commanding general of 3rd Marine Division. "It was Ray who convinced me to embark our immersion heaters so we could prepare our own T-ration."
Ray's leadership and sharp thinking gave the Marines a luxury not many others had - a hot meal.
"We were the only unit at the airport who had hot chow because Colonel Ray had the foresight to bring the heaters and our cooks with us," Neller said. "I think it was because he was forced to eat so many Meals, Ready-to-Eat during Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield and he knew the benefit of better food."
Ray's mettle and wits were tested in combat. Next, he was tested in diplomacy.
"I learned it was important to know the history of where you were going," Ray said. "It gave you some knowledge of how to conduct yourself and how to talk."
Ray also learned that diplomacy required understanding.
"When you first started talking to people, they would be really negative," Ray explained. "You had to let them get it off their chest before you could get down to business."
Ray never imagined he would have that opportunity.
"I never would have expected this when I joined the Marine Corps," Ray said. "I had an impact on entire populations. When you realize you were almost a high school drop-out, and you had an impact on entire populations, that's a very powerful moment."
Ray enjoyed his time with U.S. Forces Southern Command. However, he was needed elsewhere.
Ray was sent to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejuene, N.C., to be the commanding officer for the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. Ray's achievements continued to follow him.
Vehicles had to stop and use radios to communicate over great distances before, Ray explained. They had to stop, set up a spot and communicate a message.
This was not tactical or efficient. Ray and his battalion went to fix this.
"We got satellite radios and started mounting them to vehicles," Ray said. "I had some good folks who knew how to do it."
It was a start.
"We made it work," Ray said. "Now it is integrated into our vehicles and our command posts."
However, Ray doesn't take credit for it.
"It was a tremendous effort by some really smart Marines," Ray said. "I just believed in them and got them the equipment. They are the ones who made it possible."
Ray continued to go where he was told until 2006 when he requested orders back to Parris Island.
"My family wanted to come back here," Ray explained. "The Marine Corps got me the orders."
Ray was put in charge of the Depot's telecommunications.
"When I got here, there was no forward movement," Ray explained. "There was plenty of technology, but no movement."
Ray went to remedy the situation.
He got new computers, laptops and Blackberries aboard the island.
The storied Marine now has new plans. He is ready to retire.
"I'm ready to do something different," Ray said. "I've had a great ride and have enjoyed my experiences."
However, Ray still has some wisdom to share with the Depot's Marines.
"There are a lot of analogies I could use and say," Ray said. "I would just say, 'take advantage of every opportunity the Marine Corps has to offer.'"