Phillip “Phill” Fong Jr was born in Houston, Texas, and joined the U.S. Navy in 2002. He started his career aboard USS Reuben James (FFG-57) in Pearl Harbor before transferring to the Joint Mobile Ashore Support Team (JMAST) in Sigonella, Italy. There, he supported Presidential missions, Joint Task Force operations, and EOD Mobile Unit 8 across Europe and Africa.
During a deployment to Liberia, Phill contracted cerebral malaria and encephalitis, which required a year of recovery at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda. He returned to duty at the Naval Special Warfare schoolhouse, Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School (NAVSCIATTS), where he earned Command Sailor of the Year, Instructor of the Year, NSW Group Four Sailor of the Year, and was initiated as a Chief Petty Officer.
In 2016, Phill reported to the Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC) Tampa as Operations Chief. There, he and his team managed travel, funding, and orders for over 600 reservists. Following that tour, he was chosen to serve at the U.S. Special Operations Command’s Warrior Care Program. He served as the Southern Region Operations Officer to the Noncommissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC), while also leading benevolence and adaptive sports initiatives in support of wounded, ill, and injured Special Operations Forces warriors and their families. He concluded his 20-year career at USSOCOM WCP, retiring honorably in December 2022.
A graduate of the Navy Senior Enlisted Academy, Phill is expeditionary and surface warfare qualified, a Master Training Specialist, and holds multiple warfare and instructor designations. His awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, three Navy Commendation Medals, seven Navy Achievement Medals, and the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.
As an accomplished adaptive athlete, Phill competed for Team SOCOM in the Warrior Games and represented Team USA at the Invictus Games in Australia (2018) and the Netherlands (2022). He holds a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Management and, above all, is devoted to his wife Sylvia and their three sons—Phill, Will, and Dill.
