Grayson Mosher is a forensic science whiz and beloved battalion commander.
He’s walking the graduation stage this weekend as the highest-ranked student in Memorial High School’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, a U.S. Army youth program. And he’s doing it after overcoming immense challenges.
“It was a huge surprise,” said his dad, Adam Mosher, who served in the U.S. Air Force for two decades. “Myself and his mom are both veterans, and it was always one of those things that I guess we never saw any of our kids actually following us in the military.”
It wasn’t an easy path to leadership, though. JROTC gave Mosher the tools to challenge himself and overcome personal struggle. It’s “like (a) second family,” he said.
JROTC doesn’t require service after high school, aiming instead to “motivate young people to be better citizens” through the military’s principles and practices. As a freshman, Mosher admits he joined mostly to fill a physical education requirement.
“I just kinda sat there, I didn’t want to do too much to stand out,” Mosher said.
Simultaneously, he was dealing with deep trauma.
As a seventh grader, Mosher was sexually assaulted by another student. As a result, he struggled with suicidal ideation in the following years. JROTC helped him get through it and gave him a mentor in Col. Gregory Barrack.
Barrack was “amazing,” Mosher said. The combat veteran co-led the Memorial High School chapter for years alongside Command Sgt. Maj. Kenneth Powell.
“He would always be there for the students — even with some of the old man talks he had,” Mosher said. “He gave me the tools to break out of my introverted shell.”
“Burst through that shell,” jumped in Heather Mosher, his stepmother.
By sophomore year, Mosher joined the JROTC student staff. He fell in love with the flexible learning style and community service, especially walking in the Veterans Day parade. It helped with his ADHD and autism too, even though Mosher said he’s as “high-functioning as it gets.”
In January 2024, Col. Barrack died suddenly. Powell planned to retire after the school year closed, leaving the program without consistent instructors.
“He handled it as well as I think any student who looked up to a teacher could,” Grayson’s father said. “He decided that he was going to take the extra step forward.”
Mosher moved up in rank, going above and beyond to help the program make it through the transition.
He won the Military Order of World Wars and National Sojourners Award for leadership that year. As a junior, he racked up more recognition as he steered the program through a limbo period — and a federal government shutdown.
“He’s incredibly special,” said Cat Payton, one of Mosher’s teachers at Memorial. “He’s one of those students who consistently challenges himself.”
Mosher is in Payton’s forensic science course and serves as a teacher’s aide for her ecosystems class. Because of him, Payton said, she’s talked to the school’s college and career counselor about creating a track for forensic science at Memorial.
“He elevates the thinking of the entire class, which is really special, especially in a school like Memorial, where sometimes expectations for our students can be a little bit low,” Payton said. “He’s made other students look braver by example.”
As a senior, he stepped into another leadership role by joining student council.
“It’s been a prodigious year,” grinned Mosher.
He plans to attend the University of Central Oklahoma to study forensic science and psychology in the fall. Graduation will be nerve-wracking, he said, but he’s looking forward to leading the color guard at the ceremony. Mosher’s youngest sister, Michelea, is considering joining JROTC herself next year.
“It’s been turmoil, I guess is the best way to put it, in his life for most of everything,” said Adam Mosher. “To see it all culminate here at the end, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
The biggest lesson from high school is the power of delegating, Mosher said.
“Figuring out how to work with different people, even if they have different perspectives,” he said. “Figuring out how to tweak your learning style so it works with different students is definitely a skill that I am glad I have.”
Mosher will graduate with his peers at 12:30 p.m. May 23 at the Mabee Center at Oral Roberts University, 7777 S. Lewis Ave.
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