Findlay student accepted to West Point

FINDLAY — John Paul Gray has accepted an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. The announcement was made earlier this month by U.S. Congressman Bob Latta, who serves Ohio's 5th District. "It was an honor to nominate these students from Ohio's Fifth District to attend one of our U.S. Military Academics," said Latta during an event in Swanton earlier this month. "I thank each and every student for stepping up to serve our country, and I know they will do well as they embark on this new journey." Gray, the son of Michael and Kailin Gray, is the oldest of five siblings. He will graduate from Findlay High School on May 24. He learned about the appointment in mid-December. "I'm really excited. I get to serve my country," he said. "It's an amazing educational opportunity, and they have lots of opportunities you really don't get at other colleges." Gray said he has always wanted to serve in the military as a way to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. His dad, Michael Gray, was a civil engineer in the Air Force. He now works at Marathon Petroleum Corp. in management for environmental compliance. And his grandfather served in the Army and was a radio man in Vietnam. "I found out about the service academies my freshman year of high school. And since then, that's been my goal in high school is to get into those academies," he said. Gray was doing a three-month semester exchange with Findlay's sister city in Japan, Kawaguchi, when he learned about the nomination from Latta. "I was in class when I got the phone call so it was very exciting," he said. He explained that Findlay High School has a Japanese class that he's been involved with all four years of high school. "That was an absolutely amazing experience," said Gray. "I spent a semester living in Japan with two different host families and I got to go to high school in Kawaguchi Municipal High School." The road to getting this appointment has been a lengthy one. Gray filled out the application with West Point and had to be qualified. "Then you have to apply to your congressmen and senators to try and get a nomination," he said. "If you get approved by the academy and you get a nomination, the academy reviews you out of other people that have nominations and they decide if they're going to offer you a nomination." He said the initial processing day "where you show up and they start yelling at you and all that is June 30." That's also the start of Beast, which lasts six weeks. "It's like the West Point Basic Training, so it's teaching you how to do different military things like the basics of combat," he said. Gray said the academic school year will start midway through August. West Point is like a typical college and offers all of the classes a normal college student would take, but it's also military, he said. "From there, you have some say into where you get to go, where you're stationed and what you get to do in the military. And that's dependent on your class rank. So the higher you're ranked, the better chance you have of getting to go where you want to go and doing what you want to do," he said. Gray will pick a major halfway through his freshman year. He's undecided now, but is considering economics or foreign area studies. "There's academics and military education and they have a large emphasis on physical preparation so a lot of PT military exercises. And then everybody has to do some kind of sport," he said. Gray is interested in joining the marathon team because he ran track in high school. "I'm not fast enough to run there, but I want to keep on running," he said. During summer breaks, there's more military training, said Gray. "You have lots of opportunities to go to foreign countries so I'd like to go to the Japan Self-Defense Forces for a semester. You have the opportunity to go to airborne school, paratrooper school over the summer breaks, which sounds really fun," he said. Gray isn't certain what area he wants to pursue in the military. "I think infantry would be interesting to branch into and someday becoming a Special Forces officer with the Green Berets," he said. Once he completes his studies, Gray will have a second lieutenant's commission in the Army and then an eight-year commitment which includes five years of active duty and three years in the reserves. In high school, Gray ran track and cross country and helped out with Gliding Stars for four years. He also ran his own business — offering blaster parties as NWO (Northwest Ohio) Blaster Battles. Other area students who have been accepted at military academies include Jayden Saxton of Fort Jennings, who will attend the U.S. Naval Academy; and Charles Knight of Republic, who was also accepted to West Point.