BREMERTON — A Bremerton Navy lieutenant died Tuesday in the Aband District of Afghanistan of wounds suffered from a roadside bomb, the Department of Defense announced this morning.
Lt. Jeffrey Ammon, 37, was serving as a project payment and engineer officer with the Afghanistan Provincial Reconstruction Team in Ghazni. An individual augmentee, he had been in Afghanistan for about 14 months, having volunteered to extend his tour for a second year, said Navy Region Northwest spokesman Sean Hughes.
At Navy Region Northwest, Ammon was an operations and planning staff officer. He had transferred from the Bangor-based Trident submarine USS Alabama, where he was an engineering officer, Hughes said.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Lt. Ammon’s family and to our Navy Region Northwest family during this very difficult time,” said Rear Adm. James Symonds, Navy Region Northwest commander. “This is a tragic loss to Jeff’s family, friends and the entire CNRNW staff. All of Jeff’s uniformed and civilian co-workers are touched by the loss of this brave man. He was a professional who was extremely dedicated to his family, his shipmates and our nation. He will be greatly missed by all of those who loved him and worked with him.”
Ammon, who is survived by a wife and two children, is from Orem, Utah. He enlisted in the Navy in 1988 and went through an enlisted-to-officer program at Oregon State University. The family doesn’t want any other information released, Hughes said.
Symonds sent an internal message to region personnel Friday, notifying them of Ammon’s death. In it he asked them to reflect on and recognize the great sacrifice Ammon made while helping the Afghan people rebuild and develop their country.
“Lt. Ammon is a hero and a role model,” the message concluded. “I ask each of you to keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.”
According to the Department of Defense, 497 U.S. service members have died in Afghanistan since the war began — 301 killed in action and 196 through non-hostile means. The Navy has 1,446 individual augmentees in Afghanistan.
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