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Maj Gen Bolden to head NASA?
- Thread starter Uncle Fester
- Start date
Here's a question for any astronaut types out there...
How does applying for astronaut affect your military career? Does astronaut branch you into a different career path, do you stop being an astronaut and go back to the fleet when your tour is done, or is your military career kinda go away and you progress through NASA???
How does applying for astronaut affect your military career? Does astronaut branch you into a different career path, do you stop being an astronaut and go back to the fleet when your tour is done, or is your military career kinda go away and you progress through NASA???
As you can see from Bolden's resume, after his tenure he held a few military commands, including CO of I MEF and CG of 3rd MAW, but from what I understand his experience is rather unusual.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_F._Bolden,_Jr.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_F._Bolden,_Jr.
It is. MGEN Bolden is one of the few who hung up his space suit and went back to the workin' military. AFAIK, there's nothing stopping the rest from doing the same. I guess it's just that by the time you've ridden the Shuttle a few times you've been out of the loop a long time, you're probably a senior O-6, and competing for your Flag against guys who've been commanding squadrons, wings, CAG's, carriers, etc. I don't know if a rocket ride or two necessarily outweighs all that with the folks who hand out stars.
Gen Kevin Chilton, Commander STRATCOM, is another example. His bio (here and here) shows a pretty interesting career. I guess if you can make it through the astronaut selection process (particularly from the military side) you probably piss excellence as a matter of course. Still, as Fester mentions it has to be hard to jump back into the game and compete against your peers who have been in more traditional billets.
(Note: For every example, there is a counter-example; in this case, she at least had her Depends along in case she pissed excellence...
phrogpilot73
Well-Known Member
I guess I should get some depends... I piss excellence on a daily basis.
MGEN Bolden has indeed been nominated to be the head of NASA.
And assuming he's confirmed, he'll be the second former astronaut (and second flag officer) to hold the job. The first was VADM Richard Truly, administrator from '89 to '92, former F-8 guy, flew Enterprise, the second flight of Columbia, and Challenger.
Col. Fredrick Gregory (USAF) was briefly Acting Administrator a few years ago.
And assuming he's confirmed, he'll be the second former astronaut (and second flag officer) to hold the job. The first was VADM Richard Truly, administrator from '89 to '92, former F-8 guy, flew Enterprise, the second flight of Columbia, and Challenger.
Col. Fredrick Gregory (USAF) was briefly Acting Administrator a few years ago.
I believe she is, and still at CNATRA. The last I heard her lawyers were still appealing the admissibility of some of the evidence.
She was still at CNATRA when I was stashed there a while back. Interesting water cooler convos abound.
Everything I've heard about him (from a couple of people who worked for him) is that he's an excellent choice for this position.
phrogpilot73
Well-Known Member
I don't know anything about the guy other than that he was my deputy commandant, and an honorary member of our class. He jumped at the opportunity to be the guest of honor for our 10 year reunion. Good people all around, and I can't think of a single bad thing to think about the man.