Grady's Bio

Grady Morton was raised in the Blue Ridge foothills above Walhalla, South Carolina, growing up on Crystal Lake, just two miles west of the Stumphouse Tunnel. He is an Eagle Scout from Troop 45 and a veteran of the Philmont Scout Ranch. He graduated with high honors from Walhalla High School and attended Clemson University for a year, where as an Honors freshman he lived in the since-demolished Clemson House. While at Clemson, Grady received a direct appointment to attend the United States Air Force Academy from then-Senator Strom Thurmond.

Grady spent four years in Colorado Springs marching to lunch, studying math, and flying sailplanes. He graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics and was one of 47 cadets hand-selected from his graduating class of over 1000 to attend the highly-competitive Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training. He completed initial T-37 training and advanced T-38 training at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, graduating near the top of his class, and was selected to fly the mighty F-16 Fighting Falcon--or "Viper" as those who fly it prefer to call it. He completed Lead-In Fighter Pilot training in New Mexico flying the AT-38B, and then moved from New Mexico to Florida to enter initial F-16 training at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa in 1990.

Then-Lieutenant Morton's first operational assignment was with the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing in Madrid, Spain. From there he deployed to Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, flying combat missions with the 614th TFS Lucky Devils out of Doha, Qatar. Grady served honorably for over ten years as a fighter pilot, on both active duty and in the Air National Guard. He was designated a Weapons and Tactics Instructor and Mission Commander, eventually leading multiple complex Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) and Air Escort combat missions over Iraq.

After leaving active duty, Grady applied and was accepted to Georgia State University's College of Law, where in 2007 he graduated magna cum laude, in the top ten percent of his class, while working full-time as an airline pilot and part-time as both a real estate agent and as the Executive Officer of an Air Force Reserve C-130 unit in Alabama.

Grady immediately sat for and passed the Georgia Bar Examination and was admitted to practice law in all Georgia State and Appellate courts. He then applied to join the US Air Force JAG Corps (military attorneys), was accepted, trained as a JAG, and admitted to practice before the US Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals and the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. In 2018, Grady's military career came to an end with his retirement, at the rank of Colonel, after more than 34 years of continuous service.

During his long military career, Grady deployed multiple times in support of wars, contingency operations, and training events. He flew 63 armed combat missions while deployed to forward locations during Operations Desert Storm and Southern Watch. He has over 10,000 flying hours in various aircraft, including over 200 combat hours. In 2010, as a JAG he deployed to Afghanistan as a Major, where he eventually became Chief, Rule of Law, United States Forces in Afghanistan (USFOR-A). From there he transitioned to the newly-formed Rule of Law Field Force-Afghanistan at Camp Phoenix, where he served directly under Brigadier General Mark Martins.

Grady's awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters, Air Force Combat Action Medal, and Combat Readiness Medal. Grady's Army brethren also saw fit to award him their Combat Action Badge for his actions while embedded with a Special Forces direct action unit conducting nightly air air assault missions:

"Outside the Wire" article from Citizen Airman magazine. (Note: If the link is broken please click here.

Somewhere along the way, Grady earned a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies from the Air Force Air War College during an eight-month recall to active duty in 2012-13.

In 2010 Grady received the Harmon Award as the most outstanding JAG in the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard.

In 2007 Grady led an effort to establish a legal assistance clinic in a homeless shelter in Atlanta. He has stated that this was the most rewarding legal work he ever did, along with his work as a law student advocate under Professor Ron Blasi in GSU Law's Low Income Taxpayer Clinic.

Grady has maintained a daily meditation practice ever since returning from a life-altering retreat at Kopan Monastery in Nepal in 2017.