Brigadier General William Joseph Fox (December 23, 1897 – April 11, 1993) was a United States Marine Corps officer and engineer.

Fox oversaw the construction various military airfields, including Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Irvine, California and Henderson Field in Guadalcanal, both of which he commanded.

Fox also served as a civil engineer for the Los Angeles County from 1923 to 1955, after which, he moved to Mexico where he became a charro (a Mexican horse rider).

By then, he had accumulated 200 flying hours and he was commissioned into the United States Marine Corps Reserve as a student pilot with the rank of First Lieutenant.

[5] In 1942, he selected three Marine Corps Air Stations (MCAS)—Mojave (Auxiliary), El Centro, and Santa Barbara—and constructed a fourth—El Toro—to train pilots and crews for service in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

On January 31, 1943, Fox suffered a spine injury when he fell off a 40-foot high bluff during a Japanese bombing of Guadalcanal for which he received a Purple Heart.

[5] After his injury, he returned to the United States and served as the commander of MCAS El Toro from 1943 to 1944, during which, he flew a captured a Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero as a part of an aerial demonstration in San Diego.

[5] In 1933, following the Long Beach earthquake, Fox was appointed as the chief engineer of the Department of Building and Safety and the coordinator of Public Works and Grants.

[1][4][5] He also received a special letter from United States Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal for commanding the VMS-7R USMCR squadron for 4 years.