Joseph W. Ashy

General Joseph W. Ashy

Joseph William Ashy (born October 16, 1940 in Jasper , Texas ) is a former American general in the US Air Force , who was last in command of the North American Air and Space Defense Command ( North American Aerospace Defense Command ) from 1994 to 1996 .

Life

Training as an air force officer

After attending school, Ashy completed a degree in mechanical engineering at Texas A&M University (TAMU), from which he graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering). During his studies he joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps Program of TAMU and was accepted into the US Air Force after his promotion to lieutenant on August 24, 1962. After he graduated from September 1962 to October 1963 his pilot training at the military airfield Reese Air Force Base and then between November 1963 and July 1964, a training for combat aircrews for North American F-100 "Super Saber" on the Air Force Base Luke Air Force Base , where he was also promoted to first lieutenant on March 30, 1964 . After completing his training, he was a pilot of an F-100 "Super Saber" between August 1964 and August 1967 at the 494th Tactical Fighter Squadron stationed at RAF Lakenheath in England , where he received his on January 19, 1967 Promotion to captain .

In August 1967, Ashy switched to the 531st Tactical Fighter Squadron as a pilot of an F-100 "Super Saber" at Bien Hoa Air Base in South Vietnam and was then weapon system and tactical officer with the 3rd, who was also stationed there until August 1968 Tactical Combat Squadron ( 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing ). During this time he took part in 289 combat flight missions in the Vietnam War. After participating in a training program of the Air Force Staff for planning and operations at the US Air Force headquarters in Washington, DC from September 1968 to August 1969 , he was initially a flight instructor for F-100 "Super Saber" between September 1969 and June 1971 426th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron and most recently flight instructor for Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 "Corsair II" with 310th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron at Luke Air Force Base. There he was promoted to major on March 1, 1971 .

Ashy was then between June 1971 and April 1972 flight instructor for A-7 "Corsair II" in the 333rd Tactical Fighter Training Squadron stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and then from April 1972 to June 1975 an operations officer and most recently head of the Combat Operations Section at the Air Force Military Personnel Center at Randolph Air Force Base . On May 1, 1975 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel there . This was followed between July 1975 and July 1976 a use as an operations officer with the McDonnell F-4 "Phantom II" equipped 36th Tactical Fighter Squadron ( 36th Tactical Fighter Squadron ) at Osan Air Base in South Korea . From August 1976 to August 1978 he was initially commander of the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron, also equipped with F-4 "Phantom II", and finally assistant to the deputy commander for operations of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing ) at Hill Air Force Base, where he was promoted to colonel on May 1, 1978 .

Ashy then completed postgraduate studies in public administration at Auburn University , which he completed in 1979 with a Master of Arts (MA Public Administration). He also attended the Air War College at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base between August 1978 and June 1979 . After completing this training, he was head of division for planning and operations from July 1979 to August 1982, and finally an executive officer for the then Chief of Staff of the Air Force , General Lew Allen, Jr. This followed between August 1982 and May 1984 an assignment as commander of the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing at George Air Force Base.

Promotion to general

In May 1984 Ashy was commander of the 57th Combat Weapons Wing ( 57th Fighter Weapons Wing ) at Nellis Air Force Base and held this position until February 1986, where he was promoted to Brigadier General on October 1, 1984 . Then the United controls for the maneuver followed from February 1986 in succession to June 1988 uses as Director Ocean Venture '86 of the US armed forces in the Atlantic region ( US Atlantic Command ) as well as general inspector at the Chief of Staff of the Tactical Air Command (TAC Tactical Air Command ) before becoming deputy chief of staff of the TAC at Langley Air Force Base . During that time, he graduated from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University's National Security Program in 1987 and was also promoted to major general on August 1, 1987 .

Ashy was commander of the US Air Force Tactical Fighter Weapons Center at Nellis Air Force Base between June 1988 and July 1989 and then from July 1989 to June 1989 only again deputy chief of operations staff and most recently deputy commander of the Tactical Air Force Command TAC at Langley Air Force Base. As such, he was promoted to lieutenant general on November 21, 1989 . After serving as commander of the Air Training Command (ATC ) at Randolph Air Force Base between June 1990 and December 1992, he was commander of the Allied Air Forces Southern Europe from December 1992 to February 1994 , which to belonged to the Allied Forces of NATO in Southern Europe AFSOUTH ( Allied Forces Southern Europe ), as well as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the US Air Forces in Europe USAFE ( United States Air Forces in Europe ) for Southern Europe. This was followed by a continuation of the employment as commander of the Allied Air Forces in southern Europe between February and September 1994 and at the same time as commander of the 16th US Air Force ( Sixteenth Air Force ).

On September 13, 1994 Ashy was promoted to general and then took over on September 21, 1994 as the successor to General Charles A. Horner as Commander in Chief of the North American Air and Space Defense Command NORAD ( North American Aerospace Defense Command ) and in personal union as Commander in chief of the US Space Command USSPACECOM ( United States Space Command ) and as Commander of the Air Force Space Command AFSPC ( Air Force Space Command ) at Peterson Air Force Base . In these functions he was responsible for the air sovereignty areas of the USA and Canada as well as for the provision of tactical warning and attack assessments. As USCINCSPACE, he was the commander of the combined command for the direction of space control and support operations, including missile defense areas. As COMAFSPC he was in charge of satellite control, warning, space launch and ballistic missile missions with the help of a worldwide network of support facilities and bases. He remained in this post until his retirement on October 1, 1996 and was then replaced by General Howell M. Estes III .

As a pilot, Ashy put more than 3500 flight hours on types such as the North American F-100 "Super Saber" , Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 "Corsair II" , McDonnell F-4 "Phantom II" , Northrop F-5 "Tiger" and General Dynamics F-16 "Fighting Falcon" back. He has received several awards for his military merits and bravery, including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal , the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal , the Silver Star , Legion of Merit with oak leaves, the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaves and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal , the Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaves, the Air Medal with 13 oak leaves and the Air Force Commendation Medal . He was also awarded the Vietnam Service Medal and the South Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm.

Web links

• Biography on the US Air Force homepage
• Entry on Hall of Valor