Homecoming game flyover a decidedly Dukes affair

At exactly 30 seconds after noon on Saturday, as the Marching Royal Dukes play the final notes of the national anthem, a pair of F/A-18 fighter jets will scream over Bridgeforth Stadium prior to the kickoff of JMU’s Homecoming football game against Georgia State.

One of the planes will be piloted by Cmdr. Jim Cox (’05), a naval aviator and proud Duke who serves on the board of directors of the Alumni Association. The other will be flown by Lt. Cmdr. Mark Dodson, whose wife, Paige (’07), is former president of the Student Duke Club. A third pilot, Lt. Cmdr. Sam Howell, will join the team on the ground to coordinate the timing of the flyover. Howell’s wife taught JMU running back George Pettaway in high school.

The flyover will be Cox’s first — for a football game, anyway.

“I’ve done one or two in an official military capacity, but I’ve never done a football flyover,” he said. “We have crews who do this quite a bit at other schools. … But my passion is with JMU. I’ve wanted to do a flyover here before, but for one reason or another, it didn’t work out. But this year, for Homecoming, it worked out great.”

The F-18s will take off from a base in Norfolk, Virginia, on Saturday morning and coordinate timing while holding south of JMU. Cox and Dodson will communicate by radio with a team on the field that will include Jake Longenecker, assistant athletic director for marketing strategy and fan engagement.

When they cross Bridgeforth Stadium, the planes will be traveling south to north at 300 knots — about 350 miles per hour. After the event, the planes will land at nearby Shenandoah Regional Airport, and an officer with the Harrisonburg Police Department will bring Cox and Dodson back to campus to join friends and family at the game.

Cox described the flyover as a way to positively highlight JMU, help attract and retain students as a part of the new strategic plan, and strengthen the university’s impact across the commonwealth, including its impending move to the American Conference in athletics. In his role on the alumni board, he hopes to support student mentorship and career development by strengthening alumni-student connections and sharing his experience.

A Chesapeake, Virginia, native, Cox graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration. He and his wife, Jennifer (’05, ’06M), a graduate of the College of Education, have three children.

Cox began flying for the Navy in 2009, serving in multiple capacities before reporting to Naval Air Station in Fallon, Nevada, for the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School, known as TOPGUN. Upon graduation in 2016, he served as an instructor at Strike Fighter Weapons School Atlantic. In 2018, he joined the Navy’s famed Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron. After three years in that role, Cox returned to normal flight operations for the Navy, which continued until April 2025. He currently serves in the Navy Reserve. He also flies Boeing 737s out of Dulles International Airport for United Airlines.