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This is a NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project transcript of astronaut James A. McDivitt, interviewed by Doug Ward at Elk Lake, Michigan, on 29 June 1999. McDivitt talks about flying F-86s in Korea, test pilot work at Edwards, and his first class at the Aerospace Research Pilot School. He also covers turning down Dyna-soar, joining NASA in 1962 and learning to be an Apollo Program Manager. He describes the Change Board and says decisions were not second-guessed.
“The Pentagon”3 pages
Johnson Space Center Oral History Project James A. McDivitt 29 June 1999 12-96 were promoted based upon your time and grade. And so, as I was coming up on my time and grade as a Captain to be eligible for promotion to Major, they changed the rules so that I was—the next promotion I would have been eligible for promotion to Major. And they changed the rules where now it was length of time as a commissioned officer. So, instead of becoming eligible here, based upon when I became a Captain, it had to go back to when I became an officer. And that length of time moved it way out to here [gestures]. So, I was a Captain for a long time. It went—and just as I was leaving Edwards Air Force Base and becoming a NASA astronaut, I would’ve been—well, a little bit after that, I came up for consideration for a promotion to Major, below the zone. And I’d made all these other things below the zone. And I didn’t make it. I thought, “Hmm, that’s really odd,” because I knew what my officer efficiency reporting for ratings were. They were all as good as you can get. And so, then the next year came up and I didn’t get promoted again. Now Ed White was in the—he went and graduated from West Point when I was commissioned, within a month or two. So, we were in the same group. So, I went up to the Pentagon one time to look at my efficiency ratings to make sure that they were what I thought they were. And I was looking at them, and they were as good as you could get. They couldn’t be any better. And so, there was a guy standing there, an officer, and I said, “Could you tell me, do you have any clue as to why I didn’t get promoted this last time?” I’d been—I’d probably been a Captain longer than anybody in the below zone thing. And he said, “Well,” he looked at it, “wow,” you know, “I don’t know. But,” he says, “why don’t you talk to that guy over there? That Colonel right there is the Colonel who was in charge of the Selection Board.” I was in civilian clothes, because—being in NASA, I couldn’t wear my uniform. So, I walk over there and I say to him, “You know, Colonel, I was just going through
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