Episode 11 - William (Bill) Gray; Managing Director, SteerBridge

Meet an ESEL Honor Graduate! William (Bill) Gray retired from the Marine Corps in April of this year after 29 years of service. He was a graduate of our Henderson Hall ESEL seminar about a year ago (the week before Thanksgiving of 2022). He joins us to share his stories of how he networked as he was transitioning…so much to the point he didn’t even realize he was in a job interview until the offer hit the table! So, who is Bill Gray, you ask? Bill grew up in the Air Wing as an Aviation Logistics officer. He has been deployed multiple times, including to Kuwait/Iraq for OIF-I and Afghanistan for OEF. As a LtCol, he commanded Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 31 (MALS-31) in Beaufort, SC, and MALS-40 in Afghanistan. He has had four tours in the Pentagon. Bill has multiple defense acquisition tours, including at the F-35 Joint Program Office. About a third of Bill's career was in Military Recruiting. He commanded Recruiting Station Fort Worth, TX, when he was a major. His first tour as a colonel was as the assistant chief of staff for operations (G3) at Marine Corps Recruiting Command. He commanded the 6th Marine Corps District as a colonel where his Marines in the southeast and Puerto Rico were responsible for about 1/6th of the total Marine Corps officer and enlisted accession mission. His last job on active duty was as the chief of staff for the Europe/NATO/Russia branch within the J5 on the Joint Staff. His favorite line in his bio is: "He will celebrate his 30th wedding anniversary to his wife, the former Deborah Kelly, in December of this year (and they still like each other!!)." Join us as we talk and have a laugh or two with Bill while he serves as a proof source to our ESEL seminars and shows you, the transitioning service member, that the grass is greener on the other side. Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamcgray/