Four years ago, Willie Fox stumbled across a story while browsing the Yahoo! News home page. The article’s contents – a vivid depiction of an ocean rescue executed by the United States Navy SEALs. Fox’s eyes lit up, his insides churned and his mind wandered. That’s when he knew.
“They are the best, basically, and that’s what I wanted to do,” Fox said.
Flanked by Gilroy High principal Dr. Marco Sanchez, wrestling head coach Greg Varela, father Bill and retired United States Navy Captain Glenn Lattig, and surrounded by about 70 family, friends, teammates and little Hawks, Fox’s dreams were set in motion.
“Ever since freshman year this is what I have been trying to get to,” Fox said. “I feel really fulfilled right now.”
Looking dapper in a black suit and blue tie – a far cry from his usual sweat-soaked T-shirt he donned at practice day in and day out – Fox, the 145-pound 2012 CIF State wrestling champion, made his commitment to the U.S. Naval Academy official with a signature at a special ceremony Wednesday at GHS.
“There it is, signed his life away for 20 years,” joked Lattig, a 1969 graduate of the academy and 25-year military veteran, to a chorus of laughter and applause.
As the group sat front and center in the library, Lattig, a Morgan Hill resident for the past 16 years, went on to explain just what Fox will encounter during his first summer and subsequent academic year in Annapolis, Maryland – a period of time known as a Plebe year.
“Like I told him, he will look back on today and say, ‘what the hell did I get myself into?’” Lattig said. “Plebe year is meant to be very, very difficult – Plebe summer in particular. It’s very hot, very humid in the summer time. The big thing that they try to do is tear down any stereotypes that the inductees will have. You’ve got guys who were captains of the football team, president of the student body, president of the student council – all big men on campus. The thing that I told Willie was there is no ‘I’ in team. They are going to break you down so that they can build a cohesive unit that they want.”
Asked if all of that gave him butterflies, Fox didn’t get a chance to answer before Lattig chimed in, “it should.”
“I kind of knew what I was getting into when I was getting ready for all of this,” Fox later said in response to Lattig’s honest descriptions. “Wrestling prepares you. They say people are going to be yelling at you … people have been yelling at me my whole life in wrestling.”
And speaking of wrestling, Fox will continue on the mat under the guidance of 12-year Navy head coach Bruce Burnett, who also served as head coach of the United States World Cup Team at the 2002 Freestyle World Cup of Wrestling Championships, according to the Navy athletic website. He was also on the coaching staff for the 1992 Olympic Freestyle and Greco-Roman teams.
“I first met him my freshman year at nationals and have been in touch ever since,” Fox said.
Fox wasn’t exaggerating when he said from the moment he read that Yahoo! article the wheels began turning. His preparation began right away.
“I knew I had to have really good grades and work really hard in wrestling,” he said.
As his prep years continued, Fox upheld his end of the deal, securing a 4.0 grade point average, earning GHS scholar athlete three times and making honor roll seven times. On the mat, well, 15 tournament titles, including the state championship and 2012 Central Coast Section crown, four CCS team championships and four National High School All-American awards speak for themselves.
“I’m just happy. I’m proud,” Varela said. “It has been a long time coming. I’m just glad it’s coming for a kid like him. He made his opportunities. Nothing was given to him. He made it possible.”
When it came time to apply – a rigorous ordeal in and of itself – Fox had it all in order. Not only did he need to make sure he had all of his high school testing completed, such as the SAT-I, but a checklist of other must-dos followed, including the preliminary application process, application for nomination by a member of Congress, admission acceptance, medical examination, physical fitness assessment and an interview.
Fox is among a select group of 1,200 candidates admitted to the academy this year.
“He is coming in, he knows nothing about the Navy, nothing about the military. And on (Induction Day) he is going to raise his right hand and he is going to swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, and he will become subject to the uniform code of military justice – just like that,” Lattig said. “He has to learn what all of that means. He is not expected to know that when he walks in. But when he walks out in four years, he will. And he will be ready to lead men.”
Fox will receive four years of top-notch education (an education, when assessed monetarily is valued at $187,000 per year, Lattig said) and graduate as a commissioned officer, then begin a five-year service with either the Navy or the Marine Corps.
“I’m just so proud of Willie and so glad that he is going to be a part of this great institution and become a leader of our country,” Bill Fox said. “The sky is the limit and I’m just hoping that God will open up the doors that He has prepared for him so that he can serve at his greatest capacity in the future.”
Though he isn’t sure what he will major in, Fox said he is excited to experience all of the options available to him. After the four years, though, that’s a given.
“I’m thinking Navy SEALs,” Fox said. “To get into the SEALS is one of the toughest things to do, and that’s always something that I’ve wanted to prove that I can do.”
