Military career John V. Cox

general cox young marine aviator in 1950s.



retired general cox members of missouri patriot guard riders following speaking engagement in macon, missouri in august, 2013.

john v. cox commissioned marine corps second lieutenant upon graduation officers basic school in september, 1952 , assigned naval aviator training shortly afterward. completed flight training , designated naval aviator in july, 1954. lieutenant cox first assignment marine corps air station miami , aircraft carrier uss lake champlain (cv-39), first of dozen carriers serve on in career. in 1957, after completing one-year tour air , naval gunfire platoon leader, cox assigned vmf-451 flying fj-4 fury duty stations @ mcas el toro, naf atsugi, , pingtung, taiwan during second taiwan strait crisis.

after transitioning vought f-8 crusader, cox joined vmfa-333 in 1959 , later returned quantico attend communications officers school in 1962. following latest schooling returned mcas el toro communications officer of mag-15 , operations officer vma-513. during latter assignment cox did first of 2 tours in vietnam, flying 95 combat missions in f-4 phantom. in 1965 cox returned midwestern u.s. duty @ nas olathe (kansas), , armed forces staff college in 1967. served 2 years instructor @ naval war college 1967 1969 named commanding officer of vmfa-115.

now lieutenant colonel, cox returned vietnam 1969 1970 second tour of duty both commander of vmfa-115 , executive officer of marine aircraft group 13, stationed @ chu lai air base. colonel cox achieved career milestone during tour , featured in may 24, 1970 pacific edition of stars , stripes flew 200th combat mission , achieved 4,000 accident-free flying hours on same mission. following second vietnam tour, colonel cox served in varied positions throughout , mid-1970s, including serving on staff of commander in chief, pacific command (cincpac) under admiral john s. mccain, jr. , executive officer of mcas kaneohe bay. cox selected attend national war college, graduated in 1974, , served @ headquarters marine corps. while in washington, d.c. area earned master s degree george washington university.

john v. cox promoted brigadier general on november 4, 1977. new rank served in assignments assistant commander of 1st marine air wing, commanding general of 9th marine amphibious brigade, , duty assistant chief of staff deputy chief of staff research, development , studies headquarters marine corps. began 1980s commanding general of mcas el toro, , promoted major general on april 9, 1981. cox served commanding general of 3rd marine aircraft wing until may, 1982. in june of year general cox began final assignment in marine corps director of operations (j-3) commander in chief @ camp h. m. smith, hawaii. retired marine corps on july 1, 1985. during career amassed 5,043 hours total flight time , rated pilot in every marine corps fixed-wing aircraft of cold war era, including f6f hellcat, ad-4 skyraider, fj-4 fury, f8u crusader, , f-4 phantom ii.

after retirement major general cox remained active navy league of united states, marine corps aviation association, navy relief, , occasional speaking engagements. general cox , wife pat reside in mclean, virginia.