James Voss
Colonel, USA

The third recipient of the City of Auburn Distinguished Veterans Award, Colonel Voss, was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant after he graduated from Auburn University in 1972 with a bachelor of science degree in Aerospace Engineering.

Upon graduation, Colonel Voss went directly to the University of Colorado to obtain his masters degree under the Army Graduate Fellowship Program. After attending the Infantry Basic Course, Airborne and Ranger schools, he served with the 2nd Battalion 48th Infantry in Germany as a platoon leader, intelligence staff officer, and company commander.

On returning to the United States, he attended the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, then taught for three years in the Department of Mechanics at the U.S. Military Academy. After attending the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and the Armed Forces Staff College, Colonel Voss was assigned to the U.S. Army Aviation Engineering Flight Activity as a Flight Test Engineer/Research and Development Coordinator. He was involved in several major flight test projects before being detailed to NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.

Colonel Voss has been working at the Johnson Space center since November 1984. In his capacity as a Vehicle Integration Test Engineer, he supported Shuttle and payload testing at the Kennedy Space Center for STS 51-d, 51-F, 61-C, and 51-L. He served as the backcrew member for two missions to the Russian Space Station Mir. During this time he lived and trained for two years at the Gargain Cosmonaunt Training Center in Star City, Russia. During 2001, he lived and worked aboard the International Space Station as a member of the Expedition-2 crew. A veteran of five space flights, Voss has logged 201 days in space, including four spacewalks totaling 22 hours and 35 minutes of EVA time.

Some of Colonel Voss's special honors include NASA Distinguished Service Medal (2001); NASA Space Flight Medals (1992, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2001); Commander's List-Infantry Officer Advanced Course (1979); Army Commendation Medal (1978); Honor Graduate and Leadership Award-Ranger School (1975).