Keeping Marines High and Tight

[thedrifter]

Keeping Marines High and Tight
Submitted by: MCAS Iwakuni
Story Identification Number: 200391102225
Story by Lance Cpl. Ben Slack



ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE BASE DARWIN, Australia(Aug. 29, 2003) -- Whether trying to keep a motivational high tight or merely shaving your head to keep your hair cut within regulations, most Marines are required to have their hair cut at least once a week.

While on deployment, trying to find a new person that can be trusted with a set of clippers can be some what complicating. However, during Exercise Southern Frontier 2003 one Marine is making this problem a little bit easier to deal with.

Sgt. William Gray, Marine Aircraft Group 12 Fiscal clerk, brought two sets of hair clippers and a talent of creating customized hair cuts along with him from Iwakuni.

?Most barracks barbers can only do one of two things, shave somebody?s head or cut your standard high and tight,? said Gray. ?Most people come to me because I can fade hair, so they leave with a nice hair cut that?s within regulations.?

In addition to his work as a Fiscal clerk, he has been cutting the hair of 5-10 Marines from all of the different units deployed to Australia a day.

?It doesn?t leave for a lot of free time, because I like to take my time and make sure to get it right,? said Gray. ?But I enjoy working with my hands. Being a barber is like being a painter, you like to see the completed project plus, I like to help out my fellow Marines.?

Gray has been cutting his own hair for five years now and since arriving in Darwin, he has been able to put his talent to good use.

?When I first started cutting other peoples hair, it came pretty natural because I had been doing my own for so long,? said the Baltimore, Md. native. ?I think that I have been able to help out a lot of the Marines because there really isn?t any place else they can go to get a quality hair cut down here.?

Gray?s customers all seem to agree.

?When we first got here, we all started looking for a place to get a good hair cut with little success. Then we saw Sgt. Gray cutting hair, and it was the answer to all of our problems,? said Cpl. Luke Delmonte, MAG-12 administrative clerk.

Sempers,

Roger