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James
Henry “Jim” Ahmann
was born in
Louisville, KY on 19 Apr 1931. Raised there, he attended Xavier University
before securing an appointment to West Point. Jim was an accomplished student
and a friend to all those who knew him. His life would reflect a dry and easy
wit as well as a fierce determination to achieve success with integrity.
Graduating in the top five percent of his class, Jim chose the Air Force and
went to pilot training at Barstow AFB, FL, where he married his first wife,
Betty, and had his first daughter, Lisa. After earning his wings, he was an
instructor at Greenville AFB, followed by an exchange tour in Saudi Arabia. Jim
next finished graduate school at the Air Force Institute of Technology, and was
assigned to Patrick AFB in the manned lunar landing program.
Jim
transferred to Hurlburt Field in 1962 as a T-28 Instructor Pilot with the 1st
Air Commando Wing, and then to the Special Air Warfare Center Headquarters as
plans officer and his first deployment to Viet Nam. Despite the many air power
restrictions, Jim helped ensure that T28 aircraft, operating from Soc Trang AFB,
could reach units coming under attack south of the Mekong River within 20
minutes. The combat effectiveness of the T28 led Jim, in 1963, to display a
detailed pencil sketch of a new airplane, the A10, whose development he would
shepherd throughout his career.
Established as
a Special Air Warfare planner, Jim aided in planning the first major initiative
to interdict the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Viet Nam but did not participate in
“Waterpump.” Instead he led air counter-insurgency operations in Ethiopia, which
became the basis for the developing U.S. policy to assist in counter-insurgency
operations in Africa.
Jim returned
to the U.S. and entered Air Command and Staff College, graduating with
distinction in 1966. During this period, having divorced a year earlier, he met
and married Jeannie, a military nurse, and they subsequently had three children:
Carolyn, Nora, and Luke. Jim then was assigned to the Pentagon in the fighter
analysis section. In late 1969, he completed F-4 training and returned to Viet
Nam. In all, his combat service included 230 fighter missions. He then became
the Director of in-country operations at the air section of Military Assistance
Command, Viet Nam, focused on operations in Cambodia and along the border.
Jim’s next
assignment was as the wing commander of Spangdalum AFB, Germany, in 1973 where
he had significant operational challenges as well as race issues resulting from
the Viet Nam War. Ahmann engineered a famous boxing tournament in which the
winner would be able to fight the WG/CC. Falling back on three years of boxing
at West Point, Jim fought his opponent to a draw and with it the morale and
tactical effectiveness of the Wing increased exponentially as evidenced by
winning the European tactical evaluation at Wheelus Air Base in Libya. Jim then
was appointed commander of the 20th Wing of F111’s at Upper Heyford AFB,
England.
In 1974, he
was promoted to brigadier general and commanded the Eastern Test Range at
Patrick AFB. Jim then returned to Saudi Arabia as chief of the U.S. Military
Training Mission and began the construction of a dozen bases that later
facilitated U.S. Operations Desert Shield/Storm. Jim and his Army deputy, John
Carpenter, jointly wrote a battle plan that Generals Schwarzkopf and Horner
later would use in their attack on Baghdad. In addition, Jim persuaded the
Saudis to allow Israeli over-flight for the Entebbe Raid into Uganda in 1976.
Jim then returned to the Pentagon as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans and
Operations, 1977–79. At this time the A10 became a reality some 15 years after
that first pencil sketch in Viet Nam. Jim also played a significant role in the
development of other aircraft, to include the F14, F15, F16, B1, B2, and YF117.
Jim next was
assigned as Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations at Supreme Headquarters,
Allied Powers Europe, Belgium, to bolster the NATO staff and maintain the
cooperation with our NATO allies. There he developed the plan to use A10s in the
tank killing role to combat a Soviet attack; a reality which did not occur in
Europe but rather in Operation Desert Storm. Two years later, he returned to the
Pentagon as deputy director and director of the Defense Security Assistance
Agency, and was promoted to lieutenant general.
LTG James
Ahmann retired on 1 Aug 1982 as the result of health issues. Following his
retirement, he worked for BDM, Northrop and General Dynamics until he was
diagnosed with cancer. He left us on 8 Aug 1993, having lived a life that was
full but all too short. He is survived now by his daughter Lisa and
granddaughter Jessie; his daughter Carolyn, her husband Danny Craddock, and
grandson Maguire; his daughter Nora, her husband Butch Walker, and grandson
James; and his son Luke, his wife Kate, and grandson Jack. Jim Ahmann was the
first man in the Class of ’54 to be promoted to brigadier general and one of
only a few who wore three stars. This memorial highlights his professional
accomplishments. It does not address the man as a husband, a father, a mentor,
and a trusted friend. He always will be remembered as a true fighter pilot and
as a warrior; he will be remembered equally for all the ways he touched our
lives outside of his life in uniform. He was a full Command Pilot who won the
Distinguished Service Medal, two Legions of Merit, three Distinguished Flying
Crosses, a Bronze Star, two Meritorious Service Medals, thirteen Air Medals, two
Air Force Commendation Medals, the Air Force Outstanding Unit award, and the
Republic of Viet Nam Honor Medal First Class. There are no words to describe his
influence on all those whose lives he touched, but he will be remembered by all
with fond affection. |
