This Deceased Navy Profile is not currently maintained by any Member.
If you would like to take responsibility for researching and maintaining this Deceased profile please click
HERE
Contact Info
Home Town Rockville, MD
Last Address Pensacola Beach, FL
Date of Passing Jul 01, 2012
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
EXPERIENCE: Poindexter was commissioned following graduation from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1986. After a short tour of duty at the Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel Facility, Naval Surface Weapons Center, White Oak, Maryland, Poindexter reported for flight training in Pensacola, Florida. He was designated a Naval Aviator in 1988 and reported to Fighter Squadron 124, Naval Air Station Miramar, California, for transition to the F-14 Tomcat. Following his initial training, Poindexter was assigned to Fighter Squadron 211, also at Miramar, and made two deployments to the Arabian Gulf during Operations Desert Storm and Southern Watch. During his second deployment in 1993, he was selected to attend the Naval Postgraduate School/U.S. Naval Test Pilot School Cooperative Program. Following graduation in December 1995, Poindexter was assigned as a Test Pilot and Project Officer at the Naval Strike Aircraft Test Squadron (NSATS), Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland. Following his tour at Patuxent River, Poindexter reported to Fighter Squadron 32, NAS Oceana, Virginia, where he was serving as a department head when he was selected for astronaut training. After his retirement from NASA, Poindexter returned to the Navy. Poindexter had more than 4,000 hours in more than 30 aircraft types and logged more than 450 carrier landings.
NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected by NASA in June 1998, he reported for training in August 1998. Initially, Poindexter served in the Astronaut Office Shuttle Operations branch, performing duties as the lead support astronaut at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. He served as Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) for several missions and was a veteran of two spaceflights. Captain Poindexter logged more than 669 hours in space before he retired from NASA in December 2010.
SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-122 aboard Atlantis (February 7 to February 20, 2008) was the 24th shuttle mission to visit the International Space Station. The highlight of the mission was the delivery and installation of the European Space Agency (ESA) Columbus Laboratory. It took three spacewalks by crewmembers to prepare the Columbus Laboratory for its scientific work and to replace an expended nitrogen tank on the station's P-1 truss. STS-122 was also a crew replacement mission, delivering Expedition-16 Flight Engineer, ESA Astronaut Léopold Eyharts, and returning home with Expedition-16 Flight Engineer, NASA Astronaut Daniel Tani. The STS-122 mission was accomplished in 12 days, 18 hours, 21 minutes and 40 seconds and traveled 5,296,832 statute miles in 203 Earth orbits.
STS-131 aboard Discovery (April 5 to April 20, 2010), a resupply mission to the International Space Station, launched just before dawn from Kennedy Space Center. Upon arrival at the station, Discovery's crew performed three spacewalks to replace an empty ammonia tank for the station thermal control system. The crew also transferred more than 13,000 pounds of hardware, supplies and equipment. Included in the transfer were new crew sleeping quarters and three scientific experiment racks. On the return journey, the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) inside Discovery's payload bay was packed with more than 6,000 pounds of hardware and scientific and technical research return samples. The STS-131 mission lasted 15 days, 2 hours, 47 minutes and 10 seconds and traveled 6,232,235 statute miles in 238 Earth orbits.
Other Comments:
Capt. Poindexter died in a Jetski accident on July 1, 2012. In December 2002, he was initially named as Pilot on STS-120 mission to deliver the Harmony connecting node to the International Space Station. That assignment ended in the wake of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. In July 2006, Poindexter was re-assigned as Pilot on the STS-122 mission that delivered the European Space Agency's Columbus Laboratory to the International Space Station in February 2008.
He was later was the Commander of STS-131, which launched in April 2010. The mission's primary payload was the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. Currently Poindexter was dean of students and executive director of programs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey California.
He was the son John M. Pointexter who served as Deputy National Security Advisor and National Security Advisor under President Reagan.
Active August 16, 1948 - September 30, 1994
Country United States
Branch United States Navy
Type Fleet replacement squadron
Part of Inactive
Nickname "Gunfighters"
Aircraft flown
Fighter F-8 Crusader
F-14 Tomcat
Fighter Squadron 124 (VF-124) was a fleet replacement squadron of the United States Navy. Known as the Gunfighters, they were active from 1958 through 1994. The squadron's task was the training of pilots for the F-8 Crusader and later the F-14 Tomcat.
VF-124 was established on 16 August 1948 as VF-53 and became VF-124 at NAS Moffet Field on 11 April 1958 due to a need for an increased number of flight training squadrons, itself necessary because of introduction of swept wing fighters into Navy service. VF-124 had three missions assigned, initial training of F-8 Crusader pilots, bringing them to a standard where they were ready to join a fleet squadron, refresher training for aviators returning to the Pacific Fleet, and also providing maintenance training for ground personnel on the F-8.
This last mission is often overlooked, but was a crucial part of the training provided by a Fleet Readiness Squadron. In addition to these training roles, VF-124 maintained its instructor crews as combat ready pilots in case of national emergency. Flying the F8U-1, TV-2 and F9F-8T the Gunfighters won the Safety S awards for 1958 and 1959.
After three years at Moffet Field VF-124 moved to Naval Air Station Miramar which would become their life for the rest of its existence. F-8 training continued throughout the years and by 1970 VF-124 became the Pacific Fleet training squadron for the new F-14 Tomcat. VF-124 stopped training F-8 pilots in August 1972 and responsibility for the small number F-8’s left was handed over to VFP-63. VF-124 received their first F-14A’s on October 8, 1972. A few days later the two first active fleet F-14 squadrons, VF-1 and VF-2 were commissioned. In December 1973, US Marine Corps officers reported to VF-124 to start training as instructors. USMC involvement continued until 1976 when it was decided that the F-14 was too expensive for the USMC to operate. The first set of replacements pilots trained by VF-124 took to sea in December 1974, flying day and night carrier qualifications of the deck of USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63).
n 1976 personnel from the Imperial Iranian Air Force arrived to begin training on the F-14 until the overthrow of the Shah three years later. As a new decade began the role of reconnaissance was introduced to the F-14 with the TARPS pod. VF-124 began to teach air and ground crews how to operate the pod. By December 1988 VF-124 had trained 1502 aircrew, over 14.400 maintenance personnel and flown over 153,193 flight hours and VF-124 also achieved 124 days without any Foreign Object Damage.
With the introduction of the improved F-14D Super Tomcat, VF-124 was assigned the role of training air and ground personnel on the new aircraft and the first F-14D was accepted on November 16, 1990, with four aircraft undertaking the first fleet F-14D carrier qualifications on board the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) on October 2, 1991.
On March 11, 1993 a VF-124 F-14 made the final landing on USS Ranger (CVA-61), Lieutenant Mark A. Garcia and Lieutenant Tim Taylor completed the carrier’s 330,683rd landing. With the downsizing of the F-14 squadrons in the early 1990s the Navy’s training squadrons were reduced and VF-124 was disestablished in September 1994 and the responsibility of all F-14 training went to VF-101. VF-124 would operate the F-14A Tomcat and the F-14D Super Tomcat as all F-14B Tomcats were flown by the Atlantic Fleet Squadrons.