Greg Arnold was born on September 6, 1949, in Compton, California.  He grew up in Whittier, California, after graduating from Sierra High School in 1967 Greg worked at Hy-Cal Engineering in Los Nietos, California, he joined the U. S. Navy in April of 1968.  He went through basic training and Electrician’s Mate school at NTC, San Diego. He was then assigned to the auxiliary tugboat USS Wandank, home ported in Guam, where he was assigned to the Electric Shop.  His next assignment was the USS Ajaxhomeported in San Diego, where he was assigned to the Damage Control Electrical Division; on both ships he saw duty in Vietnam, earning his eligibility to join the VFW.  Greg separated from the Navy in 1972 and went back to his hometown and worked as a calibration and test technician at Hy-Cal Engineering, a local aerospace engineering company, until 1976, when he re-enlisted in the Navy.

            After reenlisting Greg was assigned to the USS Barbour County, where he worked in the electric repair shop.  In 1978 Greg was assigned to new constructionship USS Belleau Wood, as electrical repair supervisor for the ship’s Amphibious Assault System, both ships were home-ported in San Diego.  Greg earned the Navy Expeditionary Medal while on the USS Belleau Wood, during its deployment to the Indian Ocean, again earning VFW eligibility.

 In 1981 Greg was assigned to the Naval Personnel Command in Washington, D.C., where he assigned shipboard electricians to their future assignments.  Greg was promoted to Chief Petty Officer while stationed in Wahington, D.C.  In 1984 Greg was assigned to new construction again, on the guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes, home port San Diego, where his duties were Maintenance Material Manager Coordinator, Chief Electrician, Electrical Division Officer, Engineering officer of the watch, repair locker leader during battle stations and division section leader.  Greg attained the rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer and earned the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist badge while serving on the USS Vincennes.  While on the Vincennes Greg earned the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for its role in Operation Earnest Will and the Combat Action Ribbon in the Persian Gulf, during a fire fight against Iranian "Boghammar” gun boats, earning VFW eligibility two more times.

On all the 5 ships that Greg has served on he has patrolled the waters from the Bering Sea, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the Persian Gulf with 8 overseas deployments total.  Greg’s last tour was with Mine Countermeasures Group 1, in Seattle, WA, as staff minesweeper electrical safety and maintenance program inspector.  Greg retired from the Navy with the rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer in 1993.

            After retirement Greg eventually moved to West Linn, where he has lived since 1995.  After getting his Oregon Plant Journeyman’s Electrical license Greg went to work for Oregon Steel Mills as a maintenance electrician and electrical planner until 2009. His last job was with the Darigold milk processing plant in Portland as an engineering maintenance program coordinator. Greg finally retired from work in 2015.

            It was through a conversation with an uncle, a Navy veteran during the Korean War, concerning veterans, that motivated Greg to join VFW Post 1324 in Oregon City in 2015.  Greg held the VFW Post position of Surgeon, Senior Vice Commander and attained the position of Commander of Post 1324 in September of 2018, when the former Commander stepped down due to health reasons.  Since Greg has been Post Commander, Three Rivers VFW Post 1324 has made All American Post five times.  Before attaining the Department of Oregon position of Judge Advocate, Greg was the Department Surgeon for the 2023-2024 year.  What motivates Greg’s membership in the VFW is helping all of America’s veterans and giving back to the community in general for the successful career he had while in the Navy for 22 years.