By ALEX BOONE Palisadian-Post Intern War has become a juxtaposition of in-your-face action combined with incredible detachment. While the newsreels are filled with images and footage of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is sometimes difficult to imagine that those figures on the television are real Americans fighting for their country. When we have the opportunity to put a human face on events that happen across the globe, it reminds us of the intrepid Americans fighting for our freedom. Collier Gregory, 26, is one such individual. Collier is the son of Carol and Carl Gregory and older brother to Kate Gregory. The family lives near Will Rogers State Historic Park. As a youth, Collier attended St Matthew’s School, played baseball at the local level and was an Eagle Scout in Mike Lanning’s Troop 223. After attending Palisades High School for a year, he left and attended a boarding school north of San Diego. He was a scholarship student at Villanova University, graduating in May 2002, and is now a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps and second in command of a Marine infantry company currently fighting Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in the mountains of Afghanistan. Thanks to Internet communication, I was able to interview Collier Gregory in an attempt to put his thoughts and feelings to print. He took much of his precious free time to help this story come to conclusion, and would enjoy hearing feedback from readers via e-mail (ccg0302@yahoo.com). Alex: Share your experiences growing up in Pacific Palisades and how you got into the military. Collier: Well, I loved it! The Palisades is such a great community with so many nice people. I attended St. Matthew’s where I was more inclined to swing a bat than I was to do any of my homework. As a result, I found myself at Palisades High School where I still struggled with academics but excelled in athletics. Knowing I had more potential than what I was currently demonstrating, I found the Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, which specializes in helping kids like me develop their academic mindset. I graduated from the academy with a scholarship to Villanova University in Philadelphia. I really was enjoying my time at Villanova and was beginning to seriously consider my options after college when on September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda operatives crashed four planes, leveled two buildings and killed over 3,000 Americans. As I saw this unfold, it was very clear to me that I wanted to spend the next several years of my life seeking revenge on the people who did this. Alex: So, what made you choose the Marines over the other branches of service? Collier: Well, I thought we were going to war right away. I went down to the recruiter’s office near my school and told him I wanted to fight and in my ignorance asked him to give me a rifle. The guy kind of laughed at me and told me to relax. He said I would best serve the military if I finished college and then went in as an officer. I reluctantly took his advice and graduated from Villanova in May 2002. In the meantime, I did my homework and concluded that the Marines were the branch of service for me. I had an uncle who was a Marine and he had talked to me about the trust and fidelity our country had in the Marines. ‘When America is in trouble,’ he said, ‘they call the Marines.’ Now America was in trouble, and I knew I wanted to answer the call, as a Marine. Alex: What was basic training like? Where did you go and for how long? Collier: The training was unlike anything I was prepared for! My training lasted one year and it all took place in Quantico, Virginia. The first phase was Officer Candidate School, an eight-week boot camp that dropped nearly 40 percent of the candidates. Upon graduating from OCS, I began the basic school, which was a six-month course focusing more on doctrinal forms of combat and maneuver warfare. At the end of this school, I was selected for my Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). In a popular misconception, most people think all Marines are specifically infantry. This is not true. There are over 26 jobs for Marine officers to concentrate on, including supply, logistics, communications, artillery, tanks, law and infantry. Only a select 35 percent of the Marines are specialized infantry. So for me, as I was still seeking the job that would afford me the most revenge on the people responsible for 9/11, I requested to be an infantry officer. Just to be accepted to the Infantry Officer Course requires you to take a combat endurance test, which is a secret only to those who have taken it. I will just say that it tests the human limits. Somehow I passed this test and began the last phase of my training at the Infantry Officers Course (IOC). This was a 10-week course that tested me in ways that I never thought were possible. The intent of the course is to prepare each officer to lead a platoon of Marines in combat. I finished my training and took command of my own platoon on April 1, 2003. I was deployed to Afghanistan in February 2005. Alex: Tell us a little bit about being in Afghanistan. Collier: Afghanistan is a country that has been crippled by nations and various insurgent groups trying to conquer it for centuries. It has been tossed around and flipped upside down so many times that it struggles to find an identity amongst the many different tribes. The best way for me to describe what it’s like being here is like flipping through pages in the Bible. It’s truly amazing to see just how technologically far behind these people are from us. Just as an example, most people in the sparse villages we operate in still use fire for their means of light as there is no electricity. Alex: What can you tell us about the fighting in Afghanistan? Collier: Well, it’s no picnic. This is a counterinsurgency war, on an asymmetrical battlefield. There are no lines on the ground marking friendly positions from enemy positions. Our enemy combatants, despite their affection for Birkenstocks, are very tough and determined. They are mountain fighters and in order to combat them, my Marines and I have had to become mountain fighters ourselves. Often times, with the gear we carry, the elevation we have to climb to and the heat we endure, getting to the fight is substantially harder than the fight itself. Alex: How is our presence in Afghanistan helping Afghanistan? Collier: On September 18, Afghanistan had its first-ever parliamentary election to compliment the presidential elections that democratically elected Hamid Karzai last year. The parliamentary elections allowed every voting-aged Afghan (including females) to cast his or her vote for 5,800 candidates from 34 provinces to win 249 parliamentary seats. The election went very well and, as a result, every citizen will have local representation in their capital city of Kabul. We are also heavily incorporating the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP) into all of our patrols and missions. Both organizations must be shown the right way to defend a nation and protect its citizens. Furthermore, coalition forces have built more than 355 new community-based schools and trained over 117,000 teachers who are now educating 4,170,000 Afghan students. Educating the youth in the ways of peace and democratic prosperity is the key to making Afghanistan a terrorist-free and thriving country. These are obviously just a few brief highlights as to what American and coalition forces are doing to better Afghanistan. I’m confident that Afghanistan will be far better as a result of our fighting and building. Alex: How do you feel when people question what you are doing and why you are doing it? Collier: If done in the right forum, it makes me feel good. It’s democracy in progress. Ultimately, that’s what my Marines and I are fighting for. What upsets me is when I hear, ‘Well, you’re just over there to pick a fight’ or ‘We don’t need this war.’ I am not a fighter and I never imagined this way of life for myself. If I had it my way, like most people I would hope, 9/11 would have never happened and I would be working in Westwood carrying a briefcase instead of a gun and wearing a suit instead of camouflage. But 9/11 did happen, and luckily we live in a country that values freedom and doesn’t back down from bullies. America is a beautiful place made by brave men who have done brave things. In order to keep this way of life, we need people willing to continue making sacrifices for the greater good. I believe America will always be worth fighting for. It saddens me to think that people would disagree. We can never forget what happened on 9/11 and we must always remain vigilant in our efforts to counter terrorism, as it will be an ongoing threat. Alex: How is morale amongst your Marines? Collier: Despite what some will have you believe, it is very high. Obviously, I can’t speak for the entire military, but amongst my Marines, since we have been in Afghanistan, I have demanded from them an operational tempo that far exceeds that of any other unit within our area of operation. They consistently deliver top-notch performances with every mission, which is a direct result of the successes we have had. With their steadfast resolve, we have a solid momentum that has kept the enemy on his heels and always looking over his shoulder for the Marines. I am so proud of my unit and I wish everyone in America could spend a day with me so they could see the quality of the people fighting for them. They are America’s warriors and are doing an excellent job! Alex: Is there anything you would like to add? Collier: I would like to thank my family for all their support. With the deployments and all the time away, my service in the Marines has been just as hard on them as it has been on me. Military families rarely get the credit they deserve.
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