VADM Mark Fox, USN (ret.)
Vice Admiral Mark I. Fox, USN (ret.) is a member of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America’s (JINSA) Eastern Mediterranean and Abraham Accords policy projects. VADM Fox is also a 2018 JINSA Generals and Admirals Program participant.
A native of Abilene, Texas, Vice Adm. Mark Fox was commissioned in June 1978 upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy and designated a Naval Aviator in March 1980.
He retired in 2016 after a 38 year Navy career, and subsequently worked as Corporate Vice President for Customer Affairs at Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII). He retired from HII in 2021.
Fox’s last active duty military assignment was as Deputy Commander, U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida. He served as commander of U.S. Naval Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet/Combined Maritime Forces from 2010-2012, and commanded Carrier Strike Group 10 aboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) in 2008-2009. Additionally, Fox served as communications division chief and spokesman for the Multi-National Force–Iraq (MNF-I) in Baghdad from 2006-07, where he worked extensively with coalition partners.
Other command and executive leadership assignments include service as deputy chief of naval operations for Operations, Plans, and Strategy (N3/N5) in Washington, D.C.; commander, Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center in Fallon, Nevada; deputy assistant to the president and director, White House Military Office (WHMO)—responsible for overseeing all military support to the President; commodore of the Strike Fighter Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet in Lemoore, California; and service as the first commanding officer of VFA-122, the Navy’s first FA-18E/F Super Hornet squadron, in Lemoore.
He scored the first Navy MiG kill of Operation Desert Storm on 17 January 1991, and was mission commander and overall strike lead for the opening strike of Operation Iraqi Freedom on 21 March 2003.
Military awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star and the Distinguished Flying Cross with Combat ‘V’.
