David H. Gurney was born at Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii to a career U.S. Air Force pilot and his wife stationed at Hickam Air Force Base. Raised on or adjacent to Air Force bases until leaving for California Polytechnic University (San Luis Obispo) at age 17, 2nd Lieutenant Gurney was commissioned in the United States Marine Corps the day before graduation. Two years later, after Basic Infantry Training in Quantico, VA and Primary Flight Training in Pensacola, FL, 2nd Lt Gurney was designated a Naval Aviator and promoted to 1st Lieutenant in Kingsville, TX.
1st Lt Gurney’s first operational assignment was with Marine Observation Squadron 2 (VMO-2), flying the North American Rockwell OV-10 “Bronco” at Camp Pendleton, CA. He was designated a FAC(A)/TAC(A) [Forward and Tactical Air Controller Airborne] and participated in seven combined arms exercises at MCAGCC Twentynine Palms, California. During this two-year assignment, he served as a ground FAC for the Third Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment and flew night systems missions supporting the Vice President’s Task Force Against Drugs along the southwestern U.S. border.
In conjunction with two official requests for transition training in the AV-8A ”Harrier,” 1st Lt Gurney returned to Kingsville, TX for duty as a Flight Instructor in the Intermediate and Advanced phases of jet training. During this assignment, he was promoted to Captain, selected for transition training in the AV-8B, and accumulated over 1,800 instructional flight hours. Prior to detaching in the summer of 1988, Captain Gurney was the junior graduate at the Naval War College in Newport, RI and received the Naval War College Foundation Award.
Subsequent to five months of Harrier training at MCAS Cherry Point NC, Captain Gurney reported for duty with Marine Attack Squadron 311 (VMA-311), which was in the process of accepting new AV-8Bs from McDonnell Douglas following a transition from the A-4M Skyhawk. In March 1990, Captain Gurney and LtCol George Goodwin were the first two Harrier pilots to report to Marine Attack Squadron 211 (VMA-211) in conjunction with its own transition from the A-4M to become the second Night Attack Harrier Squadron (following VMA-214). Captain Gurney served as Aviation Safety Officer and Operations Officer before deploying to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan for a year of duty with Marine Aircraft Group 12 as Director of Standardization & Safety and augmenting Marine Attack Squadrons 223 and 231.
Returning to Yuma in 1993, Major Gurney was assigned as Aircraft Maintenance Officer of VMA-211 and saw three consecutive years where the “Wake Island Avengers” were named “Attack Squadron of the Year”. He subsequently served as Executive Officer and Officer in Charge of the six-aircraft Harrier detachment aboard the USS Belleau Wood. In the summer of 1996, “Cow” detached from Marine Aircraft Group 13 and reported to Maxwell AFB, AL for duty as a student at Air Force Command & General Staff College. While there, he was selected to remain for a second year to attend the USAF School of Advanced Airpower Studies (SAAS) within Air Force University during academic year 1997-1998.
After receiving his Masters of Airpower Art & Science degree in June 1998, Lieutenant Colonel Gurney was reassigned to “Marine Forces, Atlantic” in Norfolk, Virginia, where he served in Operations and Plans as a regional action officer for South and Central America as well as Joint Forces Command. In July 1999, he was sent to the Republic of Panama to serve as the Operations Officer (J-3) for Joint Task Force Panama.
Upon the transfer of the Panama Canal and all U.S. military installations to the government of Panama on December 14, 1999, LtCol Gurney was returned to Norfolk and offered command of a west coast Harrier squadron. During the summer of 2000, he received refresher training in the AV-8B “Harrier” at MCAS Cherry Point, NC and subsequently proceeded to MCAS Yuma, Arizona where he assumed command of Marine Attack Squadron 513, the “Flying Nightmares.”
The Nightmares first saw combat in the Battle of Okinawa during WWII and stood up as the first AV-8 Harrier squadron in the U.S. Marine Corps following a transition from the F-4Phantom. During this tenure as CO, VMA-5213 operationally employed all three variants of the AV-8B simultaneously and passed 45,000 mishap-free flight hours, the only Harrier squadron to have done either. He was selected for promotion to Colonel on 18 December 2001.
Col Gurney accumulated over 4,000 mishap-free flight hours prior to relinquishing command of the Nightmares on 7 June 2002. As he approached the end of his command tour, instability in South Asia dictated that his orders to Islamabad Pakistan and that country’s National Defense College be cancelled. New orders redirected him to the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF) in Washington, D.C. On 10 June 2003, he matriculated with a Masters of Science degree in National Resource Strategy and proceeded to Miami, Florida where he assumed duties as Deputy Director of Operations (J35) at United States Southern Command. USSOUTHCOM is responsible for U.S. security interests in the Caribbean, Central and South America.
At U.S. Southern Command, Col Gurney was privileged to lead a team of officers from each branch of the armed forces assigned to conduct all U.S. deliberate and crisis-action planning for DoD-led operations in Latin America. Notable among the many accomplishments of the Future Operations Directorate was the 29 February 2004 response to the resignation of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti, known as Operation Secure Tomorrow. Anarchy and murderous civil strife was rapidly ended via USMC-led stability and security operations followed by an efficient transition to a UN peacekeeping operation in late summer. In addition to service as USSOUTHCOM J35, Col Gurney was the designated Commanding Officer of the 57-strong USMC element until he retired in the fall of 2005.
On 4 November 2005, Colonel Gurney was nominated by the Director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) to serve on the National Defense University faculty as Senior Research Fellow; Deputy Director, National Defense University Press; and Managing Editor, Joint Force Quarterly Magazine and assumed those duties at Fort Lesley McNair in Washington, D.D. on 28 November 2005. The Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) is a policy research and strategic gaming organization within the National Defense University serving the U.S. Department of Defense, its components and interagency partners. The Institute provides timely, object analysis and gaming events to senior decision makers and supports NDU educational programs in the fields of international security and defense policy. Through an active outreach program, including conferences, international exchanges, and publications, the Institute seeks to promote wider understanding of emerging international security challenges and defense policy options.
Col Gurney’s awards and decorations include the Naval War College Foundation Award, the Defense Superior Service Medal, three Meritorious Service Medals, Air Medal, Joint Commendation Medal, Navy Commendation and Navy Achievement Medals. Through two of his websites, www.hownowcow.com and www.harrierpilot.com, Col Gurney heightens the public’s awareness of the Harrier community and lifts up the achievements of the remarkable people who so capably serve within it.