By Kristin Davis

In 1970, Charles “CW” Fox had a choice to make: Wait for his draft number to be called or enlist.

He chose the latter, joining the Army Intelligence Service and serving as a Vietnamese linguist. Following active duty, and on the advice of his uncle, he joined the Army National Guard and received a commission.

“I wanted to be a helicopter pilot in the Army National Guard,” said Fox, now a retired Air Force Reserve colonel. “I passed everything except the eye exam. A flight surgeon told me I could go to the Air Force and become a navigator. I thought about it for about five minutes and said, ‘That sounds pretty good.’”

He ultimately transferred to the Air National Guard after writing to all the National Guard units and getting picked up by the 102nd in Long Island, N.Y.

He went on to serve in the active and reserve components, becoming a C-130 squadron commander in 2001, a C-130 airlift wing vice commander in 2002, and commander of the 321st Air Expeditionary Wing in Iraq for four C-130 units.

“As the 321st wing commander, I didn’t lose anybody,” he said. “Not a lot of commanders get to say that. To me, that was probably the best reward I could have gotten out of my military career. Because I was enlisted before I became an officer, I always felt an obligation to help younger people or enlisted or junior officers. I tried to give them opportunities to make their careers better. I got a lot of satisfaction from that.”

His military career spanned 36 years, with his final assignment being Air Force Reserve mobilization assistant to the Air Force chief of safety at the Pentagon.

He cherishes the bonds formed during his service.

“The thing about the Guard and Reserve versus active duty is you’re pretty much with that unit until it’s time to retire,” he said. “… We still consider each other family, whether a member or a spouse. We’re there for each other. My wife passed away last July. We were married for 53 years. If it wasn’t for my friends in the squadron, it would have been much more difficult.”

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After his retirement from the military, Fox served as a U.S. postal inspector. He also did something he always wanted to do: He went out and learned to fly helicopters as a civilian.

Additionally, he dedicates his time to paying it forward. He's a member of numerous veterans’ groups, including a Life Member of MOAA, and for more than a decade, he has been an interview panelist for members of the Colorado congressional delegation’s military academies nomination process. In 2021, he was appointed as a commissioner of the City of Colorado’s Veteran Affairs Commission, working to connect students with military careers and joining fellow commissioners to advise the city council about veteran issues across the community.

He also initiated the development and launch of a website honoring more than 2,000 of his high school alumni who have served in the U.S. military from World War II to present for his hometown community to always remember those who served. 

“I come from a small town in upstate New York,” he said. “On the plane to Vietnam, I saw this guy’s name I recognized. I knew his brother and sister very well. He was on his second tour to Vietnam. I was on my first. I saw him just a few days before he was shot down and killed. … The primary goal is to not let [him and others] be forgotten.”

This year, Fox hopes to establish a brick-and-mortar monument as you come into town to identify Gold Star families.

“It’s a way to educate people who aren’t familiar with the military about the sacrifices that have been made,” Fox said. “Maybe that will raise their curiosity, and they’ll want to serve.”

 Kristin Davis is a freelance writer based in Virginia.