Michael.gruber173

Michael Gruber
Born	Michael James Gruber 1990 St. Cloud, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	May 27, 2096 (aged 106) Alexandria, Minnesota, U.S.
Resting place	Northstar Estate Alexandria, Minnesota, U.S.
Occupation	Writer chaplain
Education	Crown College (B.A.) Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div.) Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary (Th.M.)
Genre	Non-fiction
Notable awards	List of awards and honors
Spouse	Sarah Heins ​ (m. 2014)​
Children	Roland Henry Marjorie
Relatives	Gruber family
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Service years	2008–2013
Rank	Sergeant
Unit	173rd Airborne Brigade 82nd Airborne Division
Wars	War in Afghanistan
Awards	Combat Action Badge Parachutist Badge
Website
Official website

Michael Gruber (born 1990) was an American Christian minister, writer, and chaplain.

Gruber was born and raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota. After serving in the War in Afghanistan, he became an ordained minister and began a career as a chaplain for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Gruber's experiences in Afghanistan and chaplaincy were formative, and lead to a lifelong study of moral injury, warfare, and spirituality.

Early life and military service (1990–2019)

Michael James Gruber was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota in 1990. He was the son of James Gruber, a telephone lineman and utility worker, and Karen (Hesse) Gruber, a certified public accountant. Both his patrilineal and matrilineal lines trace back to German Catholic immigrants who settled in central Minnesota between the 1850s and 1870s. Gruber spent his childhood in central Minnesota, and he attended Technical High School in St. Cloud from 2004 to 2008.

War in Afghanistan

After graduating from Technical High School, Gruber enlisted in the United States Army as a forward observer. After a period of training, including graduating the United States Army Airborne School, he was assigned to A Troop, 1st Squadron (Airborne), 91st Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade in Schweinfurt, Germany, reporting in January 2009. Gruber deployed to Logar Province, Afghanistan in November 2009 before returning to Schweinfurt in November 2010. He was then reassigned to B Company, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina in February 2011, and again deployed to Afghanistan in May 2011, this time to Faryab Province, before returning to Fort Bragg in March 2012. In addition to parachuting while not deployed as part of his paratrooper duties, Gruber was regularly engaged in combat during both of his deployments, conducting numerous foot patrols and coordinating fire support assets such as artillery, mortars, and close air support. During his second deployment, he also served alongside Charles Keating IV. By the end of his service, he had reached the rank of sergeant, performed 15 static line jumps, and was also the graduate of numerous schools, such as the long range marksmanship course and the joint fires observer course. Gruber was honorably discharged in January 2013, and he returned to Minnesota.

Gruber's experiences in the Army shaped him profoundly, leading him to say that it was the "most definitive and important period" of his life.

Marriage

Gruber met Sarah Heins in St. Cloud after attending a Minnesota Twins baseball game in April 2012 while he was on leave. They maintained a long-distance relationship while Gruber served the remainder of his Army contract in Fort Bragg. After he was discharged and returned to Minnesota, they became engaged in September 2013. They married in May 2014 and had three children.

College and seminary years

After his military service, Gruber used his G.I. Bill to enroll at Crown College in Saint Bonifacius, Minnesota, a small Christian college affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. He graduated summa cum laude in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in biblical and theological studies. Immediately after, he attended Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts and graduated cum laude with a Master of Divinity degree in 2019. Two of the Grubers' children were born in Massachusetts while he was attending the seminary.

Gruber credits Christianity as helping him reintegrate into civilian life after his military service, and spoke highly of his time at both institutions. Gruber was theologically Calvinist.

Federal service (2019–present)

After graduating from Gordon-Conwell, Gruber moved his young family back to central Minnesota, and began a clinical pastoral education residency at the St. Cloud VA Health Care System in October 2019, and was then ordained as a minister by Converge in August 2020 and appointed as a full-time chaplain in December 2020. Gruber also continued his education, attending Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary in January 2022, and he received a Master of Theology degree in 2024.

Awards and decorations

Military awards

Gruber was awarded the following awards and decorations during his military service:

Right breast	Left breast
505th Parachute Infantry Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia
German Army Bronze Parachutist Badge	Combat Action Badge
Army Meritorious Unit Commendation with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster	Army Commendation Medal
	Army Achievement Medal with two Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters	Army Good Conduct Medal	National Defense Service Medal
	Afghanistan Campaign Medal with three Bronze Service Stars	Global War on Terrorism Service Medal	NCO Professional Development Ribbon
	Army Service Ribbon	Overseas Service Ribbon with Numeral Three	NATO Medal for Service with ISAF
	Parachutist Badge with 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment background trimming		Expert Marksmanship Badge with Carbine Component Bar

Other accoutrements
	1 Service stripe		173rd Airborne Brigade Shoulder Sleeve Insignia-Former Wartime Service
	4 Overseas Service Bars		82nd Airborne Division Shoulder Sleeve Insignia-Former Wartime Service