Mark Irby "MRT" Fox (born March 1, 1956) is a retired

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

who served as the Deputy Commander of

United States Central Command The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilit ...

(CENTCOM). Prior to assuming his duties at CENTCOM, he served as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans, and Strategy (N3/N5), Commander, United States Naval Forces Central Command and Commander, United States Fifth Fleet. He also previously served as the Commander of the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, and as Communications Division Chief, American Embassy Annex,

Baghdad, Iraq Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. In October 2006, then-Rear Admiral Fox completed a tour as the Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Military Office (WHMO), responsible for overseeing all military support to the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. He also served as WHMO Deputy Director for 18 months before assuming responsibilities as WHMO Director in January 2005.

Naval career

A native of

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor County, Texas, Taylor and Jones County, Texas, Jones counties, Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan ar ...

, Fox was commissioned in June 1978 upon graduation from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

and was designated a naval aviator in March 1980. During his career, Fox deployed from both coasts in five fleet tours, flying the A-7E Corsair II and

F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...

in over 100 combat and contingency missions off the coasts of

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

, and over the

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and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Fox's combat highlights include scoring the first navy MiG kill of Operation Desert Storm prior to dropping his bombs on an airfield in western Iraq on January 17, 1991, and leading the opening "Shock and Awe" strike of

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

on March 21, 2003. Fox's previous command assignments include Commander, Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center; Commander, Carrier Strike Group Ten; Commander, Carrier Air Wing 2; Commander, Strike Fighter Wing,

United States Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor� ...

; the first Commanding Officer of Strike Fighter Squadron 122 (the Navy's first

F/A-18E/F Super Hornet The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are a series of American supersonic twinjet, twin-engine, Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft derived from the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Ho ...

Fleet Replacement Squadron), and Commanding Officer of Strike Fighter Squadron 81. Shore tours include duty as an A-7E Instructor Pilot in Attack Squadron 174; a tour as the Light Attack/Strike Fighter Junior Officer Detailer in the Naval Military Personnel Command; assignment as Aide and Flag Lieutenant for Commander, Naval Air Force,

United States Atlantic Fleet United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

; Aide and Flag Lieutenant to the Assistant Chief of Naval Operations (Air Warfare – OP-05); joint duty as the Maritime Plans Officer at

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe The Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. SHAPE is situated in the villag ...

in Casteau, Belgium; and service as the Joint Strike and Aviation Programs Liaison Officer in the Navy's Office of Legislative Affairs in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Corporate career

Fox retired from the navy in April 2016, and in June 2016 joined

Huntington Ingalls Industries Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (HII) is the largest military shipbuilding company in the United States as well as a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. HII, ranked No. 375 on the Fortune 500, was formed ...

Newport News Shipbuilding Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the sole designer, builder, and refueler of aircraft carriers and one of two providers of submarines for the United States Navy. Founded as the Chesapeake Dry Dock ...

Vice President of Customer Affairs. Fox is married to Priscilla (née Wood). They have four children, William, Collin, Mason and Abigail.

Awards and decorations

Fox has logged over 4,900 flight hours and 1,348 arrested landings on 15 different aircraft carriers.

References

External links

Official Navy biography
''This work is in the public domain.'' , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Mark I. 1956 births Living people People from Abilene, Texas United States Navy personnel of the Gulf War Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal United States Navy vice admirals United States Naval Academy alumni United States Naval Aviators Military personnel from Texas Members of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America