NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – The AV-8B Weapons Systems Program Office (PMA-257) appointed a new program manager during a change-of-command and retirement ceremony Aug. 10 in Hangar 201 here.

Former commander of the Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23, here, Col. Charles Gray relieved Col. Thomas Walsh, who retired from the Marine Corps after 25 years of service.

“Colonel Walsh is a fearless leader,” said Rear Adm. Donald Gaddis, the program executive officer for Tactical Aircraft, which oversees PMA-257. “He is hardworking, steadfast and intense.”

The PMA-257 program office manages the life cycle sustainment of the AV-8B Harrier Weapon System, for the Marine Corps and its allied partners the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy. The program engineers, procures, fields and sustains readiness and capability improvements for Vertical/Short TakeOff and Landing (V/STOL) attack capability.

Gaddis thanked Walsh for his service and praised him for his accomplishments as PMA-257 program manager.

“He is a Marine who simply gets things done and done quickly,” Gaddis said.

During the ceremony, Gaddis welcomed Gray into the PEO(T) fold, encouraging him to “take the lead and shape the dialogue” for the Harrier program office.

Gray, a native of Paramonga, Peru, accepted the challenge and said he has come to appreciate the “elegance of the AV-8B Harrier.”

“This capability is not enabled by millions of lines of software code nor by hundreds of man years of modeling simulation efforts” Gray said. “It is enabled by the minds, the hands, the hearts and the sweat of Marines, and these enablers will never be matched, will never be beaten -- in peace or in war.”

Gray was commissioned in the Marine Corps in May 1989 upon graduation from the United States Naval Academy, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering.

He was designated a naval aviator in June 1992 and assigned to Marine Attack Training Squadron (VMAT) 203 for AV-8B Harrier training. Upon completion, he was assigned to Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 513, Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, Ariz., deploying to Iwakuni, Japan, in November 1993.

In November 1995, Gray deployed again with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 265, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable). Upon his return in May 1996, Gray was assigned to VMAT-203, MCAS Cherry Point, N.C., as an instructor pilot until being selected to United States Naval Test Pilot School.

Upon graduating from Test Pilot School in June 1999, Gray was assigned to Weapons Test Squadron, China Lake, Calif., where he served as the military flight test deputy of the AV-8B Joint Systems Support Activity, where he executed AV-8B flight test programs, to include Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Litening II targeting pod.

In March 2001, Gray completed F/A-18 training and was assigned as the squadron operations officer while continuing to serve as an AV-8B and F/A-18 test pilot.

In July 2002, Gray transferred to the Precision Strike Weapons Program Office (PMA-201) at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., as the program manager for the JDAM selective acquisition anti-spoofing module/anti-jam development effort. In March 2004, Gray served as the PMA-201 deputy program manager for both JDAM and Small Diameter Bomb.

In July 2005, Gray was assigned to VX-23 as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter government flight test director. Gray was responsible for execution of the Developmental Test program of both the Marine Corps Short Take Off and Vertical Landing and Navy carrier variant of the F-35 Lightning II and oversaw milestones, such as the first flight of the F-35B.

Gray was subsequently assigned as chief test pilot for VX-23 in January 2009 and served as commanding officer from September 2010 until March 2012. During this period, VX-23 accomplished multiple aviation milestones.

Gray has accumulated more than 2,600 flight hours in multiple aircraft.

Gray holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Tennessee and is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College from which he holds a Master of Strategic Studies degree. His personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal and Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.