Hometown Hero of ITX 4-18: Lance Cpl. Robert Gready

Robert Gready is a native of Houston, Texas, and an emergency room medical scribe at Baptist Emergency Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. He is also a Reserve Marine and ammunition technician with Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division.

Gready has been a member of the Marine Corps Reserve for four years.

“I was looking for something to do out of high school,” Gready said. “I didn’t want to go straight into college just like everyone else. I wanted to get a little bit more experience in the world, and the Marine Corps was the challenging, patriotic thing to do.”

Reserve Marines, like Gready, spend at least two consecutive weeks each year furthering their capabilities at annual training exercises across the globe. This year, Gready and other Marines of Weapons Co., 1st Bn., 23rd Marines, are furthering their capabilities by participating in Integrated Training Exercise 4-18 at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California, June 6-19, 2018.

ITX 4-18 is a service level training event which aims to prepare units for combat under the most realistic conditions possible. The Marines are taking advantage of MCAGCC Twentynine Palms’ expansive desert to replicate conditions they could very well face on a possible, future deployment.

Ammunition technicians, like Gready, are responsible for many facets of the ammunition field including receiving, storing, issuing and handling ammunition as well as sophisticated weaponry such as guided missiles, large rockets, explosives and other types of explosives.

“It’s mainly logistical, making sure that the ammo works with 1st Bn., 23rd Marines’ weapons,” Gready said. ‘I’m helping out their 81mm mortars, by keeping round counts and making sure the right type of ammo is properly documented on all of the paperwork.”

During his annual training at ITX 4-18, Gready is filling an essential road guard position, securing entrances to the ranges during live-fire exercises.

“My job as road guard is to make sure that people are not entering range 410A, if the range is hot, without the permission of the range safety officer or the officer in charge,” Gready said.

While his duties as an ER scribe don’t directly correlate with his occupation in the Marine Corps Reserve, qualities of leadership and timeliness apply to both.

“Leadership wise, the Marine Corps has really helped me excel,” Gready said. “In my civilian job, I just got promoted to leader trainer and quality assurance auditor. I’m training all the new incoming scribes, as well as doing the regular medical scribe job. My Marine Corps training has definitely helped me with that. In the ER especially, punctuality is key. You can’t show up 30 minutes late to work. Essentially, you need to be there 15 minutes prior, which is something that the Marine Corps instilled in me.”

Original article posted on Defense Visual Information Distribution Service