Marine Corps and Early NASA Career
Overmyer entered active duty with the Marine Corps in January 1958. After completing Navy flight training in Kingsville, Texas, he was assigned to VMA-214 in November 1959. Overmyer was assigned to the Naval Postgraduate School in 1962 to study aeronautical engineering. Upon completion of his graduate studies, he served one year with Marine Maintenance Squadron 17 at MCAS Iwakuni, Japan. He was then assigned to the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Colonel Overmyer was chosen as an astronaut for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) Program in 1966. Colonel Overmyer logged over 7,500 flight hours, with over 6,000 in jet aircraft.
The MOL program was canceled in 1969, and soon afterward Overmyer was selected as a NASA astronaut. His first assignment with NASA was engineering development duties on the Skylab Program from 1969 to 1971. From 1971 to 1972, he was a support crew member for Apollo 17 and was the launch capsule communicator. From 1973 to 1975, he was a support crew member for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and was the NASA capsule communicator (CAPCOM) in the mission control center in Moscow. In 1976, he was assigned duties on the Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) Program and was the prime T-38 Talon chase pilot for Orbiter Free-Flights 1 and 3. In 1979 Colonel Overmyer was assigned as the Deputy Vehicle Manager of OV-102 (Columbia) in charge of finishing the manufacturing and tiling of Columbia at the Kennedy Space Center preparing it for its first flight. This assignment lasted until Columbia was transported to the launch pad in 1980.
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