Candidate for
Board Member; Vandenberg Village Community Services District

Tony Fox: Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Turned Consultant

Anthony Wayne Fox was born in Tampa, Florida at Hillsborough Air Force Base in 1944. From this beginning as an Army Air Corps "brat," Tony continued in that status with his parents through a variety of his father's assignments in the United States, Germany, and Japan until he graduated from Baylor University, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and was commissioned in the USAF in 1966. His first assignment was at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in 1967 in the procurement career field, and he remained mostly in the weapon system acquisition arena throughout his career. He obtained his Master of Arts degree from Central Michigan University in 1974 while assigned to the C-5A System Program Office at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. He also has an Associate of Science degree in quality technology from Allan Hancock College and has a diploma in National Security Management from the National Defense University. His last seven years in the Air Force were spent overseas in Greenland, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He is a veteran of Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm. His last military position was in joint service as Commander, Defense Contract Management Area Operations Ankara, which involved industrial plant oversight responsibility for the F-16 aircraft co-production program in Turkey, where he also served on the U.S. Ambassador's Country Team.

In 1992, LtCol Fox, as a result of the force draw down, retired early at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C. with nearly twenty-five years of honorable service. During that time, he was certified by the USAF at Senior Level III in contracting, quality assurance, and manufacturing, and he also received the Senior Missile Badge, and the Master Aircraft and Munitions Badge. His highest decoration is the Defense Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster. At this point, Tony began his second career as a professional consultant, certified primarily in contract management, in the Washington, D.C. area. His last permanent position there was with Educational Services Institute of Arlington, Virginia, where he performed duties as a Contract Review Specialist for the Resolution Trust Corporation in the District of Columbia working cost recovery projects related to oversight of failed savings and loan companies.

Upon the death of his father in 1995, Tony and his wife resigned their positions (hers with Citizens Bancorp), and relocated to California to be with his mother, who is now 93, to assist her with her personal affairs; and also to help with a critically ill father-in-law, who passed away in 1998. After arriving on the central coast, Tony continued in his post military career of consulting in contract management.

Currently both Tony and his wife, who are dedicated to more fiscally responsible government, are active members of the Lincoln Clubs of Santa Barbara County and the Santa Maria Valley, and the Lompoc Valley Republican Club.

As a new resident of the county, Tony, in the interest of citizenship and to better understand county government, served as a member of the county Grand Jury for the 1997-98 term. Presently, he is a Vice President and District Director with the Vandenberg Village Community Services District, a water, wastewater board, being elected in November 2002.

Further, Tony was twice Chairman of the California Central Coast Section 601 of the American Society for Quality, and was nationally, Deputy Region 6 Director through 2001 until just after the section's dissolution. In addition, Colonel Fox is currently a Chapter Advisor, past National Director (two terms), and past President of the Vandenberg Chapter of the National Contract Management Association. Tony also served as president (1997-98) and 2nd Vice President of the Santa Maria-Lompoc Aerospace Chapter of The Retired Officers Association (new name: Military Officers Association of America), where he is the Legislative Affairs Officer for the 2005-06 program year. A life member of MOAA, Tony was very active on the board of CAL-TROA as a member of the budget committee, and also the Area III, Central Coast State Director for the council for the year 2000.

Tony lives in Vandenberg Village with his wife of 38 years, Ann. They have one grown son, Erik-Anthony, who is married to the former Jennifer Shaw. Erik passed the Nevada bar exam and is a graduate of Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California. He formerly clerked for a Supreme Court Justice in Carson City, Nevada and is currently with the law firm, Marquis & Aurbach in Las Vegas. Grandson Dominic William's first birthday was on September the 18th.

October 4, 2006