Topic: Bill Oefelein

William Anthony "Bill" Oefelein (IPA pronunciation: 'oʊfɛlaɪn,) (born March 29, 1965) is an American businessman, test pilot instructor and a former naval officer and NASA astronaut.

Oefelein was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, but grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, where he flew float planes. He earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from Oregon State University, where he became a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and, ten years later, a master's degree from the University of Tennessee Space Institute.

In 1988, Oefelein received his commission as an ensign in the United States Navy from Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida. He entered flight training in Texas in 1989 and was designated a Naval Aviator in September 1990. His early assignments included overseas deployments to the Persian Gulf as a strike fighter pilot in the F/A-18 Hornet. After attending TOPGUN, the Navy Fighter Weapons School, Oefelein graduated in 1995 from the Navy's test-pilot school at Patuxent River, Maryland, where he later taught. In 1998, he was working as a strike operations officer for a carrier air wing in Virginia.