Military Career
Wheelock spent four years as a cadet at West Point, graduating in the class of 1983 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Science and Engineering. After graduation he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army's Infantry Branch and entered flight school the next year. In September 1984, then Lieutenant Wheelock graduated at the top of his flight class and was designated an Army Aviator. He subsequently served in the Pacific as a combat aviation Section Leader, Platoon Leader, Company Executive Officer, Battalion Operations Officer, and Commander of an Air Cavalry Troop in the 9th Cavalry. He was later assigned to the Aviation Directorate of Combat Developments as an Advanced Weapons Research and Development Engineer.
Wheelock was selected as a member of Class 104 at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and upon completion was assigned as an Experimental Test Pilot with the Army Aviation Technical Test Center (ATTC). His flight testing was focused in the areas of tactical reconnaissance and surveillance systems in the OH-58D, UH-60, RU-21 and C-23 aircraft. He served as Division Chief for fixed-wing testing of airborne signal and imagery intelligence systems in support of the National Program Office for Intelligence and Electronic Warfare.
While on active duty, Wheelock received a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech in 1992. In August 1996 Wheelock was assigned to the Johnson Space Center as a Space Shuttle integration test engineer. His technical duties involved engineering liaison for launch and landing operations of the Space Shuttle. He was selected as the vehicle integration test team lead for the joint Space Shuttle and Russian Space Station Mir mission STS-86, and lead engineer for International Space Station hardware fit checks.
Wheelock is a graduate of the Army Airborne and Air Assault Courses, the Infantry and Aviation Officer Advanced Courses, the Combined Arms Services Staff School, the Material Acquisition Management Course, and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. In July 2011, Wheelock left for a tour of duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He is scheduled to return in fall 2011. A dual-rated Master Army Aviator Astronaut, he has logged over 2,500 flight hours in 43 different rotary and fixed-wing aircraft.
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