He dropped out of school to fight in Chechnya and was probably sent to train in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan where he would be chosen by Osama bin Laden to participate in the terrorist attacks in America.

In March 2001, al-Ghamdi is reported to have met with a Jordanian in Connecticut who has been charged with providing false identification to at least 50 illegal aliens.

On May 2, al-Ghamdi moved from White Bear, Minnesota and arrived in Pensacola, Florida with fellow-hijacker Majed Moqed, on a student visa.

[citation needed] He and Moqed moved in with Hani Hanjour and Nawaf al-Hazmi in Falls Church, Virginia.

His brother Hamza al-Ghamdi purchased Ghamdi's ticket online for United Airlines Flight 175 on 29 or 30 August, after buying his own.

[6][7] On the morning of September 11 2001, Ahmed al-Ghamdi left the hotel with his brother, the two of them sharing a taxicab to get to Logan International Airport.