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| Admiral James W. Montgomery |
Admiral Montgomery, a native of Malden, Missouri, graduated from the US Naval Academy with the Class of 1945, in June 1944, due to World War II. He served in the cruiser USS New Orleans in the Western Pacific area throughout the remainder of wartime hostilities, facing enemy forces in the Philippine, Ryukyu, and Japanese islands.
Subsequent service included various operational and command assignments, at sea and ashore, in both the Atlantic and Pacific areas. He did post graduate work at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he obtained a Master of Science Degree in Management and Industrial Engineering. He commanded the destroyer escorts USS McCoy Reynolds (DE 440) . the USS McGinty (DE 365), the USS DeHaven (DD727), and , the USS Galveston (CLG 3), the world's first long range guided missile (TALOS) ship. Other significant assignments included Head of Amphibious Warfare Systems in the Office of the Director of Warfare Analysis, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; Executive Assistant and Senior Aide to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management); Chief of Staff US Seventh Fleet; a Deputy Chief in Naval Material Command Headquarters; and in the Naval Sea Systems Command as Deputy Commander for Surface Ships.
Following graduation from the National War College in 1967, Admiral Montgomery was instrumental in planning, and developing the Navy's ability to provide career enhancing training ashore for the artificer ratings while simultaneously providing maintenance assistance to the fleet. Reporting directly to the Chief of the Bureau of Naval Personnel and to the Under Secretary of the Navy, he brought such a concept to fruition as the first commanding officer of the Naval Development and Training Center (DATC), on the site of the then dormant San Diego Naval Repair Facility. The success and benefits of this effort resulted in broad establishment of the DATC concept, at activities later to be known as Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activities (SIMAs).
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| Ltjg. J. A. Cooper, DeHaven gunnery officer, Commander J. W. Montgomery, commanding officer of DeHaven, Capt. E. M. Inby, Commander destroyer Squadron NINE, and Rear Admiral Clyde J. Van Arsdall during award ceremonies aboard DeHaven at Yokosuka, Japan. In the background are the Battle Efficiency and Navy's Anti-submarine Award displayed by the ship for operational excellence. LCDR Bruce Banks watches from the bridge. |
Admiral Montgomery fondly recalls his days in DeHaven as being very special to him, a veritable destroyerman's dream, and certainly one of the highlights of his career. Homeported in Yokosuka, the DeHaven was continuously active as a permanent member of the wide ranging Seventh Fleet at a time of much international focus on the Western Pacific area. A time, too, when the Seventh Fleet's initial exploratory destroyer coastal incursion returned a US Navy warship to the Yellow Sea area after an absence of some fifteen years. This earned DeHaven an historical linkage to those future DESOTO patrols — DeHaven Special Operations off TsingtaO.
Admiral Montgomery was awarded numerous medals, awards, and decorations, including three Legions of Merit, the Navy Commendation Medal, the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation, the National Order of Vietnam, Fourth Class. He was also awarded the Navy Gallantry Cross with Palm by the Republic of Vietnam
Following his retirement in 1978, Admiral Montgomery continues in the private sector his interest and activities in maritime, defense, and general national security matters. He remains an active lifetime member of the Surface Navy Association.
Admiral Montgomery is married to the former Arlene Albright of Reading, Pennsylvania, and has two sons, Thomas and James Jr., and one daughter, Deborah M. Placet.
On Tuesday, April 12, 2011, Admiral Montgomery passed away in Arlington, VA where he will be intered at the Arlington National Cemetary. He was the beloved husband of Arlene A. Montgomery; loving father of Thomas W. (Donna W.) Montgomery, James W. (Debra) Montgomery, Jr., Deborah Montgomery (James P.) Placet and the late Robert Gerald Montgomery; grandfather of James III, Stephanie, Megan, Joseph, Melissa and Emily.