William Vincent Cox

"Prayer Does Not Change God, But It Changes Him Who Prays".

Soren Kierkegaard 1813 -1855


Col. Cox enjoyed a 27-year career in the United States Air Force after graduating from the University of Georgia in 1979. He began his career as a Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICB M) deputy combat crew commander at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. He subsequently moved to the Maintenance division and held positions including instructor and evaluator. He continued in ICBM maintenance with a follow-on assignment to Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, where he was a project manager for replenishment spares and modification programs while serving in the ICBM integration office. He culminated his missile experience with an assignment to the Air Force Logistics Command Inspector General (IG) directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, serving as the ICBM maintenance inspector throughout the command.

Following his IG assignment, he was selected to attend the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) to pursue a second master's degree in Logistics Management following his first master's degree from the University of Phoenix in Management. He earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Georgia. After graduating from AFIT, he was assigned to the Logistics Management Systems Center as a special projects officer. He then accepted a Pentagon assignment working for the Program Executive Office for Battle Management as an assistant for large visible acquisition programs. Subsequently, he was transferred to the Standard Systems Group, Gunter Annex, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. He was selected to receive the distinguished Trail Boss of the Year Award in recognition of his leadership and management skills in improving IT systems supporting the Air Force's tactical plan. Prior to his last assignment, he was a Deputy System Program Director and supervised the correction of significant technical deficiencies and oversaw program management for the Air Force Operations Management System, Manpower Data System and the Security Forces Management Information System. He culminated his career as the Program Manager for the Defense Security Case Control Management System.

Col. Cox's last assignment was to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He was assigned to the 554th Electronic Systems Group. He spearheaded the Strategic Management Information System contract award, a Balanced Score Card tool, embraced by three consecutive Air Force Materiel Command commanders to highlight strategic Command performance measures. He led the Command-wide implementation of a virtual information storage architecture thus improving savings for years to come. The Microsoft exchange migration, successfully accomplished under his tutelage, stands as one of the largest migrations ever completed in government or the private sector. He also led the $1.5 billion-dollar Expeditionary Combat Support System through a successful Milestone A decision and contract award, establishing the foundation for a new Air Force Logistics System. For the entirety of these accomplishments, Col. Cox was awarded The Meritorious Service Medal for his service during 1 June 2001 to 31 July 2006. He served as the Director of the Business Information System Program Office for the Materiel Systems Group, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He managed a portfolio of systems with an annual budget in excess of $38 million dollars. These systems supported the Materiel Command's infrastructure, computer accommodations metrics, Air Force requirements processing, and technical and engineering data systems. It was with great respect and love for his country that he proudly retired after 27 years of active service in the United States Air Force.

After his Air Force retirement, he found satisfying work in business development positions with various defense contractors over the next six years. His broad career culminated in his most gratifying service to Ohio University as an Associate Director in the Procurement Technical Assistance Center for the last ten years. This singular position provided him with the generous opportunity to utilize his broad experience and vast technical knowledge in assisting small businesses across the state of Ohio in their pursuit of government contract awards. In his own words, "by far and away, this job has been my personal blessing to finally be able to give something back".

He was married to his wife Pam for almost 42 years having been together since college for 47 years. They shared the cherished joy of their daughter Kathryn as the completion of their family and consider her as their greatest accomplishment. He has two older brothers, Gary and Bob Cox, currently residing in Georgia.

Our husband and father has run his best and final race with dignity, grace, inner fortitude and most importantly, an ever-abiding faith in his God. He never wavered in his belief that his true reward of eternal life ultimately gave him victory in Christ. Our hearts are profoundly broken, and we will miss him every single day for the rest of our lives. He was the compass in life's journey providing insightful guidance, continual optimism and a reliable foundation for our family. We celebrate him by embracing his motto to "soldier on" no matter life's circumstances. So, it is our privilege to honor him in this request and simply not "say goodbye", but rather "until we meet again".



"To One Who Has Faith, No Explanation Is Necessary".


"To One Without Faith, No Explanation Is Possible".


Saint Thomas Aquinas 1225 - 1274




A memorial service will be held for our Bill at 11:00 am on Friday, April 14, 2023 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Dayton. A reception will follow.


2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.