USAFA Class Heritage Class of 1963

Joseph James Cox, Jr

James graduated from Number Three High School, studied Aeronautical Engineering at N.C. State University, and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) with a MS in Engineering Science. He earned a Master’s of Science Degree in Astronautics from Purdue University and received his PhD in Engineering Mechanics from Arizona State University.

After graduation from the USAFA, he served in the U.S. Air Force for twenty three years. He began his military career as a pilot of F4C jets at RAF Bentwaters, England. During the Vietnam War, he was a fighter pilot and Aircraft Commander, based at Cam Rahn Bay, South Vietnam. He completed 169 combat missions. Later James was an instructor pilot at Williams Air Force Base and taught in Engineering Mechanics department at the USAF Academy. After completing his PhD, he returned as an Associate Professor at the Academy and was the Chief of several USAFA research teams. As Director of Space Systems Planning in Los Angeles, California, James was responsible for developing the Space Division corporate position on technology and Program Manager for the Military System Technology Model (MSSTM) that identified technologies to support advanced space system concepts. He was a member of the NASA Structures and Materials Advisory Committee. While working at the Pentagon, he served as Deputy for Space Defense providing technical advice for the research and engineering of several programs including the Space Defense Anti-Satellite (ASAT) program and the Space Interceptor.

After he retired from the Air Force, James worked at Martin Marietta on space defense projects including Brilliant Pebbles and as an aircraft engineering consultant at Boeing. James was the son of the late J.J. and Gladys Cox of Patterson Springs. He is survived by three sons (Brent, Michael, and Barry Cox) one daughter (Tami Cox), three grandchildren, and two great grandchildren, two sisters - Ruth Quinn Stewart (Joe) of Columbia, S.C. and Betsy Burkett of Detroit, Mi.- one brother, Bill Cox of Shelby, N.C, and seven nieces and nephews. James wrote several novels and enjoyed discussing politics with a good cigar and a good bourbon beside his pool in Orlando. He will be greatly missed!

James was buried at Air Force Academy Cemetery in Colorado on September 18, 2019. 35th Reunion (1998): After graduation on 5 June 1963, I attended Purdue University for seven months and earned my MLS. in Astronautics. I entered UPT at Williams AFB, AZ in March 1964 and flew the T-37 in Warlock Flight, then the T-38 in Beer Can Flight. After Survival Training at Stead AFB, NV, my new bride, Shirley Bradley, and I, with my son Barry and daughter Tami, first moved to Davis-Monthan in Tucson for F-4 Combat Crew Training (CCTS) in July 1965. Then we moved to Ipswich, England in November 1965 where I was a pilot in the F-4C assigned to the 91st TAC Fighter Squadron at Bentwaters Royal Air Force (RAF) Base. After numerous trips to Wheelus AFB in Tripoli, Libya, and trips across the pond (Atlantic Ocean) to ferry new F-4s to Europe, we departed in Dec 1966. Shirley relocatefin Phoenix, while I was given an opportunity to log some combat hours. I flew 169 missions in the F-4C including 69 over North Vietnam while stationed at Cam Rahn Bay in the 557th Fighter Squadron. I also managed to upgrade to Aircraft Commander in February 1967. Next on to Perrin AFB, TX for T-37 IP training in September 1967 and then back to Williams AFB in February 1968 for a tour as a “tweet” (T-37) IP and later move to stan/eval. I returned to the Academy as an instructor in the Mech Department in June 1970. I finally relearned what a vector was and managed to stay ahead of the cadets for two years. Then a three-year hardship tour to Arizona State where I earned my Ph.D. in Engineering and then returned to the Academy in 1975 as an Associate Professor of Mechanics. I taught eight different courses in Aircraft Structures and Finite Elements, and managed to fly both the T-41 and the T-37 as an IP. My son Brent was born in 1970 at the Academy hospital and Michael was born in Phoenix in 1972. After four years of teaching, I opted to get into the space world and was assigned to Space Division in July 1979 in the Deputy for Technology and was assigned up as the Director for Space Planning as a new Colonel in 1981. Before going to the Pentagon, my new wife, Ingrid Bethke, and I, and our sons Brent, Michael, and Oliver spent the obligatory tour at War College in Montgomery, AL in 1982-83. Then on to the Pentagon and a one-year tour in the Program and Resources as the Director of Space, C3, and EW. In February 1984, I became the Space Defense Deputy in OSD and from June 1985 to June 1986 I was the acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for defensive Systems in OSD and also a charter member of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization until I retired in July 1986. I then had a seven-year challenge living in Orlando, FL with Brent and Michael as a single parent and being a Program manager and Program Director for what is now Lockheed Martin. Managed to have a successful launch of a laser into space on Delta 181 {ED: Thor Ballistic Missile with strap-on boosters used to launch satellites into space}, and then moved on to run the Space Based Interceptor Program, and later worked on Brilliant Pebbles and Brilliant Eyes interceptor and sensor programs. In December 1993, I returned to airplanes as the Vice President of Engineering and Depot Support Division of DynCorp Aerospace Technology in Fort Worth, TX. While cotinuing in this job I was also first President of DynCorp’s and Australian’s Advance Repair Technology International (ARTI) in June 1994 and became a Board Member in January 1997. Iam presently (July 97) dating Dr. Judy Hammond of Tyler, TX where she is teaching nursing at UT of Tyler and Tyler Junior College. Barry is in Guam, Tami in Phoenix, Mike in Ft. Worth, Brent in Orlando, and Olive in Berlin, and I have three grandchildren: Nina is 9, Arielle is 7, and Little Joe is 5.