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Community Corner

'His Life Has Been Such a Success Story'

Wife of slain Air Force officer Philip Ambard, who lived in Edmonds while attending high school in Shoreline, remembers her husband of 23 years. A memorial service is Thursday.

For Linda Ambard and her husband Philip, Washington state wasn’t just a place where they had spent part of their lives. They had many friends here, and their dream was to retire to Port Angeles after Phil’s Air Force career was over.

Bu those dreams were shattered after Maj. Philip D. Ambard, 44, , along with seven other U.S. military personnel and an American civilian contractor. The shooter was identified as an Afghan Air Corps pilot. No motive has been released.

“That was where we were going to settle and build a house, and be grandparents,” Linda said. “I don’t know where I will end up now, but it won’t be Port Angeles, because that was our dream together.”

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Linda spoke over the phone from her home in Colorado Springs, CO, where she had just returned from picking up her husband’s body from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Philip was assigned to the 460th Space Communications Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, CO.

Linda, who has many relatives in the Vancouver, WA, area, filled in a few details about Philip’s life. Born and raised in Venezuela, he moved at age 12 to live with his father in Austin, TX. Three years later, at 15, he moved to Edmonds to stay with his mother. They lived in several houses in the area, which is why Phil lived in Edmonds but attended and graduated from Shorewood High School in Shoreline.

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“He played football and swam,” said Linda, a P.E. coach. “It’s kind of funny. He wasn’t very good at either of them, but you know what, he sure did try. And that effort is what made him successful, career-wise.”

Linda and Phil met at Phil’s first assignment after boot camp, at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. “This is kind of a good story,” Linda said, allowing herself a little laugh. “I was working at the pool. He kept coming in and flirting with me, but he was also flirting with my friends. I wanted nothing to do with him because I thought he was a playboy. But he came in every single day and was very persistent.”

Since Linda was coaching for the Special Olympics, Phil decided the best way to get close to her was to volunteer to help. “Next thing I knew,” Linda said, “we became workout friends. We started to date at end of July and in November we eloped to Reno. That was a little over 23 years ago. Nobody would think that we’d do that, because we’re both super responsible and reliable. But it was always our little chuckle.”

After several domestic and overseas assignments, Philip arrived in 2003 at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, where he was an assistant professor.

Fluent in his native Spanish and also in French, Philip served as an instructor in both languages and was consistently rated as one of the top faculty members at the Academy. His performance in and out of the classroom led to his selection as the Department of Foreign Languages’ executive officer. He subsequently served in that same role for the dean of the faculty. 

Phil’s sustained excellence was recognized in 2006 when he earned the distinction of Company Grade Officer of the Year for the Dean of Faculty and the entire Academy. In 2007, he was sponsored by the Department of Foreign Languages for the doctorate program at Denver University, which he completed in 2010.

“Phil was so smart,” Linda said. “He’d just gotten his Ph.D. and he had two master’s degrees. Funny thing, when he was in high school, he was so busy learning (English) and struggling with culture shock, he barely graduated. So his life has been such a success story.”

Philip was scheduled to return to the Department of Foreign Languages after a year-long deployment to Afghanistan. “This man was a superstar in every sense of the word,” said Linda. “He’d only be in Afghanistan four months and was officer of the quarter. He could outwork everybody, (and) he mentored people all the time.”

Linda says support from the military has been overwhelming. “Military spouses and loved ones, family members, we stand arm in arm, heart to heart, and we always know it’s the grace of God that keeps us from being the person who loses someone we care for very much. And, you know, I’ve had so much of an outpouring of love from the military community. I know they understand my pain.”

Four of Linda and Phil’s children are in the military. One of them, Emily Short, who herself returned from Afghanistan four months ago, is now putting together a memory book of her father.

A memorial service for Philip Ambard will be held Thursday at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. 

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