Joseph August Ahearn (September 5, 1936 – July 10, 2018) was a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Biography

Ahearn was born in

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

, in 1936. He attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

and

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

Career

Ahearn joined the Air Force in 1958. His first assignment was at

Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USS General Harry Taylor (AP-145), USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in K ...

, where he was a construction engineer and programmer. From there, he was assigned to

Goose Air Base Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay , commonly referred to as CFB Goose Bay, is a Canadian Forces Base located in the municipality of Happy Valley-Goose Bay in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is operated as an air force base by ...

in Happy Valley - Goose Bay, Newfoundland. In 1963, he transferred to Headquarters

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

as a missile maintenance engineer before becoming Director of Engineering and Construction the following year. Ahearn would be stationed in Frankfurt, West Germany from 1967 to 1970, at which time he was deployed to serve in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. After returning to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, he was named a squadron commander at

Craig Air Force Base Craig Air Force Base near Selma, Alabama, was a U.S. Air Force undergraduate pilot training (UPT) installation that closed in 1977. Today the facility is a civilian airport known as Craig Field Airport and Industrial Complex (ICAO: KSEM; FAA: S ...

before transferring to Headquarters

Air Training Command Air Training Command (ATC) is a former United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command designation. It was headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, but was initially formed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. It was re-designated as Ai ...

. In 1976, Ahearn was assigned to

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

, and in 1983, he returned to West Germany to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff for Engineering and Services at Headquarters

United States Air Forces in Europe United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

. He returned to The Pentagon in 1989 as Director of Engineering and Services in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics and Engineering and was named Civil Engineer, Headquarters U.S. Air Force in 1991. His retirement was effective as of January 1, 1992. Next, he was employed by the engineering consulting firm CH2M HILL to secure work through Ahearn's connection with the Pentagon. The effectiveness of Ahearn's military/dictatorial approach to leadership as applied to civilian organizations was questioned by many at CH2M. In particular, several executives of CH2M's transportation executive team soon left the firm citing Ahearn as the impetus for their decision to leave. In retaliation, Ahearn applied pressure to blackball those executives and their affiliates. In particular, Tom Huntsinger, a longtime CH2M Hill executive and employee of over twenty five years who questioned Ahearn's unethical conduct. Huntsinger's career was impacted to the point that he became distraught and took his life. CH2M defended Ahearn's action as not being so "outrageous" as to be actionable under Colorado law, although engineering professional rules of conduct were found to have been violated by Ahearn, a story fabricated by those opposed to his hiring. During his career, Ahearn became affiliated with the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, the

Society of American Military Engineers The Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) unites public and private sector individuals and organizations from across the architecture, engineering, construction, environmental, facility management, contracting and acquisition fields and ...

, the

National Society of Professional Engineers The National Society of Professional Engineers (abbreviate as NSPE) is a professional association representing licensed professional engineers in the United States. NSPE is the recognized voice and advocate of licensed Professional Engineers repr ...

and the

American Public Works Association The American Public Works Association (APWA) is a nonprofit, professional association of public works agencies, private companies, and individuals dedicated to promoting professional excellence and public awareness through education, advocacy and ...

. Additionally, he became a Centurion of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (formally the Military Ordinariate of Archdiocese for the Military Services of the United States) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese that provides the Catholic Church's pas ...

. The Major General Joseph A. Ahearn Enlisted Leadership Award given by the

Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency The Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency (AFCESA) merged with the Air Force Real Property Agency and the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment to form the Air Force Civil Engineer Center on 1 Oct. 2012 AFCESA was a List of United ...

is named after him. Awards he received include the

Air Force Distinguished Service Medal The Air Force Distinguished Service Medal (AFDSM) is a military decoration of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force and is presented to airmen and guardians to recognize distinguished and exceptionally meritorious service to ...

, the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

, the

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

, the

Defense Meritorious Service Medal The Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM) is an award bestowed upon members of the United States military by the United States Department of Defense. In the order of precedence of the United States Armed Forces, it is worn between the Purple ...

, the

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: *Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Med ...

with three

oak leaf clusters An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a speci ...

, the

Air Force Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

, the

Outstanding Unit Award The Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award (ASOUA) is one of the Awards and decorations of the United States Department of the Air Force, unit awards of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. It was established in 1954 as the A ...

with

valor device Valor, valour, or valorous may mean: * Courage, a similar meaning * Virtue ethics, roughly "courage in defense of a noble cause" Entertainment * Valor (band), a Christian gospel music group * Valor Kand, a member of the band Christian Death * ' ...

and the

Armed Forces Honor Medal The Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal ( vi, Danh-Dự Bội-Tinh) was a military decoration of South Vietnam that was first created on January 7, 1953. The medal was awarded in two classes and reached its height of bestowal during th ...

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

. He was elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

in 2010 "for contributions to improving the environment and transportation infrastructure through engineering and construction projects." In 2012, he received the Carroll H. Dunn Award of Excellence from the

Construction Industry Institute The Construction Industry Institute (CII), based at The University of Texas at Austin, is a non-profit consortium of more than 130 owner, engineering-contractor, and supplier firms from both the public and private arenas. The group aims to enhanc ...

.Construction Industry Institute
Retrieved February 26, 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahearn, Joseph 1936 births 2018 deaths People from Galesburg, Illinois United States Air Force generals Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War American military engineers University of Notre Dame alumni Syracuse University alumni Recipients of the Order of the Sword (United States) 20th-century American engineers 21st-century American engineers Engineers from New York (state) Engineers from Illinois Military personnel from Illinois