Law County native in American Combat Airman Hall of Fame

[farmer]

PROCTORVILLE, Ohio -- Carl Fox's childhood dream of flying landed him among select company this year.

The 41-year-old Lawrence County native became the youngest inductee of the American Combat Airman Hall of Fame at an October ceremony in Midland, Texas. His name now ranks among the greats of combat aviation, such as fellow inductees President George H.W. Bush and Chuck Yeager.

Fox's induction stands as a tribute to his four tours of duty in Iraq. He flew nearly 1,000 combat missions, during which he tallied thousands of flight hours participating in the invasion, the surge and the transition to Iraqi sovereignty.

"It's pretty incredible," said Fox, a U.S. Army chief warrant officer 4. "You don't feel particularly worthy of that kind of distinction, especially when you feel like what you do is what you're meant to do. We look at is as doing our job."

Fox's love for aviation grew in the hills of Lawrence County, where he recently visited for the holidays. Airplanes fascinated him even at age 5 or 6. He often built model airplanes and hung them from the bedroom ceiling. He always knew the military had the "best toys."

"The most exciting form of aviation is military flying, without a doubt," he said. "I can't really see myself sitting behind a (Boeing) 747 flying people around. It's not that exciting."

Fox instead opted for the leading edge of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On March 23, he piloted his Longbow Apache into the war zone as part of a 24-helicopter battalion.

"The invasion mission was my first combat mission and it was by far my worst," he said.

Fox's helicopter, equipped with special radar-detecting equipment, led the way that night along with three others in the battalion. The flight encountered heavy enemy fire within 30 second to a minute of their objective. One chopper fell to the ground, while the other two had to reverse course both aflame and down to one engine.

That left Fox and his co-pilot all alone.

"It was pretty crazy," he said. "(The Iraqi Republican Guard) basically looked blindly into the night and fired blindly into the sky with everything they had."

All but one helicopter in Fox's battalion took enemy fire that night. His aircraft returned with 23 holes.

Fox's first tour lasted four months. His crew then returned home and redeployed from spring 2004 to summer 2005. He would witness some of the worst fighting during that tour as the country grew very hostile.

The third deployment, beginning in September 2006, grew to 15 months as President George W. Bush implemented the surge. However, a torn Achilles shortened Fox's stay to three months.

Fox then returned for his fourth and final mission in April 2009. He returned home in April 2010, recounting a much calmer environment as Iraqi government took hold.

But Fox's story of heroic and courageous service is not without its miracle. Everything could have changed if it not had been for a brave decision in 1997.

That's when the Proctorville native found himself on the verge of deployment to Germany when doctors noticed a tumor behind his eye. They determined it was benign and surgery was not required, but the result of doing nothing would mean decreasing eyesight and an end to his aviation career. The surgery also had risk, such as blindness and the loss of an eye.

For Fox, the decision was simple.

"I basically said, 'If I can't fly, I really won't be happy. So do the surgery and let's hope for the best,'" he recalled.

And the best was received.

Fox married his wife, Amy, a few months later. The two, who met on a blind date, have since had two children -- 9-year-old daughter, Sydney, and 4-year-old son, Carl Fox IV.

With four tours behind him, Fox now looks toward spending time with his family. He expects to stay on U.S. soil for two years. His upcoming assignment will be to evaluate National Guard and Reserve units preparing for deployment in Afghanistan.

Fox also looks to do some fishing, and for him that is more than just spending time by the lake with his son. He picked up competitive bass fishing between his second and third deployments. He won his first tournament in March 2006, collecting about $65,000 cash and a new boat. He has gone on to compete on the FLW Outdoors tour.

Fox qualified to fish in the national championship in 2007, but those plans were stymied by his third deployment to Iraq. He doesn't anticipate that happening again in the near future, as he hopes to fish the full two upcoming seasons.

Through it all, the aviator, fisherman, father and former competitive cyclist calls his life, "A pretty crazy ride. That's for sure."

[BubbleGumTiger]

Congrats to CWO Fox......quite an honor...............

[kantuckyII]

My hat off to this fine man

[Boonedawg]

Congrats Carl!

[Tiger Man]

We are proud of you Mr. Fox

[Raiderball]

:aaaaa41 :aaaaa41 :aaaaa41

[Charley Hustle]

Kudos to CWO Fox