Jack Swigert was born on August 30, 1931, in Denver, Colorado. He earned his private pilot's license at the age of 16 in 1947, and was commissioned a 2d Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force through the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Colorado on July 14, 1953. He entered active duty for pilot training on October 13, 1953, and he completed Primary Pilot Training with the 3305th Pilot Training Squadron at Malden AB, Missouri, in June 1954. Lt Swigert next completed Basic Pilot Training with the 3560th Student Squadron at Webb AFB, Texas, and was awarded his pilot wings on October 27, 1954. He was assigned to the 3645th Student Squadron at Laughlin AFB, Texas, from November 1954 to January 1955, and he then attended F-86 Sabre Combat Flying School with the 3595th Student Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nevada, from January to July 1955. Lt Swigert next served as an F-86F pilot with the 35th Fighter-Bomber Squadron at Itazuke AB, Japan, from June 1955 to September 1956, and after returning to the United States he left active duty and joined the Air Force Reserve on October 2, 1956. He transferred to the Massachusetts Air National Guard on September 15, 1957, and served as an F-86H pilot with the 131st Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield, Massachusetts, from September 1957 until he transferred to the Connecticut Air National Guard on April 1, 1960. Capt Swigert then served as an F-100A Super Sabre pilot with the 118th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Bradley Field, Connecticut, from April 1960 until he rejoined the Air Force Reserve on October 16, 1965. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force Reserve on December 30, 1971. After leaving active duty, Jack Swigert served as an engineering test pilot for Pratt & Whitney from February 1957 to June 1964, and an engineering test pilot with North American Aviation from June 1964 until he was selected in the 5th NASA Astronaut Group in April 1966. His first and only space flight was as command module pilot aboard Apollo 13 from April 11-17, 1970, for which he and the other members of the mission were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom the day after they returned to Earth. He took a leave of absence from NASA in April 1973 to serve as Executive Director of the Committee on Science and Astronautics with the U.S. House of Representatives, and he retired from that position and from NASA in August 1977. Jack Swigert ran for the U.S. Senate in 1978, and for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the 6th Congressional District in Colorado in November 1982, but he died before taking office on December 27, 1982. Jack Swigert is buried at Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.