Christ School Greenie. Duke Blue Devil. NBA basketball player.
And now for 2nd Lt. Marshall Plumlee ’11, he can add another title worthy of esteem – U.S. Army Ranger.
Plumlee graduated Aug. 30 from Ranger School in Fort Benning, Ga. It is a life event for the Greenie that has drawn national media coverage from a wide variety of outlets, including CNN, NBC Sports, and Stars and Stripes.
Marshall's parents, Perky P'08, P'09, P'11 and Leslie P'08, P'09, P'11, were in attendance for his graduation ceremony as were his brother, Miles '08, and sister, Maddie. Mason '09 is in China with Team USA for the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Marshall's speech to Greenies in an Assembly last October was one of the highlights of Asheville School Week.
"The theme is that Christ School is going to challenge you guys," Marshall said. "Embrace those challenges because you are going to come out on the other side a better man. You're going to come out with better friendships, better bonds. Embrace those challenges because you're going to have something you're really proud of, you're going to be part of something bigger than yourself. I can tell you I'm sure proud to be a Greenie right now."
Marshall was an ROTC cadet during his time at Duke and joined the New York National Guard while he was a player for the New York Knicks.
U.S. Army Ranger School is an intense 61-day combat leadership course with three distinct phases – “crawl,” “walk,” and “run.” Historically, the graduation rate for Ranger School has been about 50 percent.
