Captain Duane Cox retired from the U.S. Navy in 1985 as the Deputy and Acting Manager of the Anti-Submarine Warfare Systems Project Office, Washington D.C.

He joined the Navy in September 1956 as a naval aviation cadet and entered flight training in Pensacola, Fla., receiving his wings and commission in 1958. Over his 29 year Navy career, he qualified in 16 different types of Navy aircraft: jets, turbo props and propeller-driven. He specialized in photo reconnaissance, intelligence and anti-submarine warfare.

His Atlantic military duties included photo and aerial reconnaissance detachments to Europe and the Caribbean, including aerial photographs of Castro marching from Southern Cuba to Havana, burning cane fields, after the defeat of Batista, and "before and after" photographs of the Bay of Pigs. His photo reconnaissance flights indicated a Cuban missile build-up, later resulting in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Duane also photographed John Glenn’s maiden flight at 39,000 feet and also participated in many flights in support of NASA. He also photographed the last in the series of the atomic bomb tests in the Pacific. In the Pacific and Far East, his duties included numerous flights in support of the Cold War and Vietnam. He was the commanding officer of Patrol Squadron Forty Six (VP46) at Moffett Field, Cal. His major command was as Commodore Oceanographic Systems Pacific, headquartered at Pearl Harbor.

His military honors include the Legion of Merit, with a gold star signifying a second award, the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medals and numerous combat related and non-conflict (Cold War) medals and ribbons.