Today we’d like to introduce you to Johnny Gray
Hi Johnny, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My name is Johnny Gray III and I am currently a firefighter paramedic/crew chief for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. I am the son of Johnny Gray Jr and Judy Gray, my father was a 4 time Olympian and a bronze medalist in the 1992 Olympics in the 800m. He is the former American Record Holder in the 800m and the current world record holder in the 600m. I am married to April Gray, whom I known my entire life, and we have 4 kids, Caleb -17, Kensley -13, Caysen -11, Kamille -9. I am also the President of the Los Angeles County Stentorians, an organization that was created to combat blatant racism and bigotry in 1954. I have been a firefighter for 14 years, and on the executive board for 13 years, and President for 5 years. I was born in Inglewood, CA, where I currently reside, however, I grew up in Agoura Hills where I experienced racism and grew thick skin with the ignorance that occurred in my upbringing. In the fire service, there is still ignorance occurring, and I think it is important to have an organization that can help when these atrocities occur, and help our members out in those situations. It is my duty to serve because those before me bled, sweated, cried, and had to take many jabs and verbal jabs on the chin, without the backing of such an organization like ours, hence why they created the Stentorians. STENTOR, means “loud and powerful voice” from Homer’s Iliad. We must keep the fire burning for justice, especially in today’s ever changing world, with old cultures rooted in some places and ignorance still being prevalent in some people’s minds.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nothing in life is smooth. There will always be challenges and obstacles. Growing up as one of only a few blacks in Agoura during elementary, middle, and high school, I was subjected to bigotry. In the fire service, I have been exposed to the same situations, only difference is, it is grown men that are subjected me to the nonsense. It was a struggle coming from playing professional basketball overseas to straight to the fire service, because most of my classmates had some sort of experience in the fire service, whereas, I had NO IDEA what I was doing, but had the confidence from sports to be able to know I can learn the “playbook”. I struggled with learning EMT at such a fast pace in the tower, but trusted my upbringing and going through college as a student athlete, that I could be successful if I just put my mind to it and stuck with it. It is a constant balancing act and struggle being away from my family for extended periods of time, but we knew what I signed up for and it is a honor to serve the citizens of Los Angeles County.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a firefighter paramedic in the Air Operations Section right now. I have been assigned here for 7 years and enjoy it immensely. I was in the fire stations on an engine and squad for 7 years prior to coming up here and it is 2 completely different jobs. We fly in helicopters and are multi mission. We do hoists, fires, medicals, traumas, swiftwater, blue water, horse rescues, searches, all during the day, night, rain, or snow. Fresh off of the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires in January, those were the craziest winds I have ever flew in. It is an honor to serve the people of Los Angeles County. This job is so dynamic and uses teamwork on every single call. We train like we play and train like our life depends on it, because it does.
I am most proud of becoming the first black crew chief of Los Angeles County. We specialize in being multi-faceted, hence the multi mission dynamic that we have here at AirOps. We were the first in the fire service to fly blackhawks on fire single pilot. I am not known personally for anything specific on the job, other then being an ex professional basketball player and the son of an Olympian.
I think what sets me apart from others is I rely and fall back on my sports background to learn, teach, and perform. I think sports parallels everything we do and I am thankful for the opportunity to have played basketball my whole life and take it to other countries to get life experience that I use to this day.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I would like to say be open minded with you careers, expose yourselves to as much as you can (positive things 🙂 ), and always try to leave a great first impression. We deal with the public daily, and we represent not only ourselves, but our families, our crew, and our department. Like sports, we play for the name on the front of the jersey, in this case, we play for the patch on our arms, and the bear on our badge. I am a true believer that we need to thank our ancestors for the fight they put up in the past to allow us to do what we are doing today. I love my family, I love my crew, and I am thankful for the opportunity to fly in our aircraft everyday and represent something bigger than myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lacountystentorians.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaygray3/ and https://www.instagram.com/lacountystentorians/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaygray3
Image Credits
Doug Morrison
Brandy Carlos
