[1] He served three combat tours as an Airborne Ranger, two in the Vietnam War, earning various awards for service and valor.
In 2008, he received the Distinguished Graduate Award for Outstanding Service to the Nation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
[6] In 1970, after eight years in the military, Kimsey bought a building in downtown Washington, D.C., renting out the top floor.
In May 1983, Kimsey was brought in as a manufacturing consultant for Control Video Corporation by his West Point friend Frank Caufield, an investor in the company.
[2] CVC was founded by William von Meister to market an online service called GameLine for the Atari 2600 video game console.
[8] Shortly thereafter, Control Video was reorganized as Quantum Computer Services, with co-founders Kimsey as CEO, Marc Seriff as CTO, and Steve Case.
[16] One of the office buildings on the former AOL Campus in Ashburn Virginia, now demolished, was named The James Kimsey Center in his honor.
[1] On October 30, 2006, Kimsey was appointed to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by President George W.