Rear admiral says parents put him on path to Pentagon
Robert Cox says the Palm Harbor couple taught him the possibilities of American life and a responsibility to serve.
By TERRI D. REEVES
Published September 28, 2003
PALM HARBOR - When they were raising a family in New Jersey, Jack and Margery Cox created an atmosphere of achievement for their three children, who all went on to earn master's degrees.
Now the Palm Harbor couple has seen their youngest son, 50-year-old Robert Cox, being promoted to rear admiral in the U.S. Navy.
It is something that Cox showed an aptitude for since his childhood, when he spent his summers piloting the family boat in Maine.
His parents, both 81, attended the ceremony at the Pentagon on Sept. 2. They have lived in the Highland Lakes area of Palm Harbor since 1980.
"It's an honor and one that we feel was earned," said Jack Cox, a former Navy man. "It was a combination of the right kinds of opportunities and (Robert) having the right kind of talents."
The elder Cox recalled a Navy-sponsored, two-day, father-and-son "tiger cruise" about 20 years ago.
"A professional pilot told me, "This man (Robert) handles a ship better than any I've ever seen,"' he said.
Jack Cox worked as an aircraft mechanic on Navy planes in Iceland during World War II and became a commissioned officer for the Navy in 1945. He attended Yale University, where he received an engineering degree and became an executive with Shell Oil Company. Always a patriot, he married Margery on July 4, 1945.
In 1975, Robert Cox joined the Navy through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The 28-year veteran earned two master's degrees: One in financial management from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. and one in strategy and policy from the National War College, National Defense University in Washington D.C.
Of the many medals Robert Cox has earned during his military career, he said he is most proud of the Bronze Star he received in 1989.
It was given for his service commanding the USS Inflict, a minesweeping ship that detonated Iranian mines in the Persian Gulf to provide safe passage for American-flagged Kuwaiti tankers.
"It was a great combination of the efforts and talents of many active and reserve members of the Navy that made it possible," he said.
One of the most harrowing episodes of his career took place on dry land.
On Sept. 11, 2001, he was in his new office in the recently renovated wedge of the Pentagon when terrorist hijackers slammed American Airlines Flight 77 into the first and second floors of the building about 100 feet away.
He remembers that he and some colleagues were discussing the attacks on the World Trade Center when the blast occurred.
"We looked out the window, and the outside was consumed by debris, smoke and a fireball," he said. "They had just put in the new blast-proof windows; the old ones would have undoubtedly blown apart." He was not injured during the blast.
He still works at the Pentagon, where he is on the staff of the Chief of Naval Personnel and directs the Total Force Programming and Manpower Division.
He attributes much of his success in the Navy to his parents, who made sure he participated in character-building activities like scouting, sports and church.
"My parents taught me that we live in a country with extraordinary possibilities that has given so much to so many," he said. "We all have some level of responsibility to serve it in some way."
