John "Jack" Lawrence Finley (December 22, 1935 – September 19, 2006) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

and was selected as an

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

. He graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

in 1957, received his naval commission and underwent flight training at

Naval Air Station Pensacola Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United Sta ...

, Florida, which he completed in August 1958. He next served with Air Training Unit 203 at

NAS Chase Field Naval Air Station Chase Field is a former naval air station located in unincorporated Bee County, Texas, near Beeville. It was named for Lieutenant Commander Nathan Brown Chase, Naval Aviator #37, who died in 1925 while developing carrier landin ...

, Texas, after which he was transferred as

F-8 Crusader The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) is a single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Vought. It was the last American fighter that had guns as the primar ...

pilot to the Fighter Squadron 51 (

VF-51 VF-51, Fighter Squadron 51 was an aviation unit of the United States Navy known as the "Screaming Eagles". It was originally established as VF-1 on 1 February 1943, redesignated as VF-5 on 15 July 1943, redesignated as VF-5A on 15 November 1946, ...

) on board the aircraft carrier . After four years in this assignment, he was assigned to the staff of the

Carrier Air Wing Five Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5) is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. The air wing is attached to the aircraft carrier . It was initially formed in 1943. It has participated in the Second World ...

(CVW-5) as the CVW-5

landing signal officer A landing signal officer or landing safety officer (LSO), also informally known as paddles (United States Navy) or batsman (Royal Navy), is a naval aviator specially trained to facilitate the "safe and expeditious recovery" of naval aircraft ab ...

(LSO), where he was the senior LSO responsible for the safety of carrier landings by the wing's assigned aircraft and pilots. In 1964, Finley attended the

Aerospace Research Pilot School The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (USAF TPS) is the Air Force's advanced flight training school that trains experimental test pilots, flight test engineers, and flight test navigators to carry out tests and evaluations of new aerospace w ...

Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, California, Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County and a souther ...

, California (Class 64-A). After graduation, he became an instructor at Edwards. Finley was selected as a USAF astronaut on November 12, 1965, envisaged to fly military Gemini missions in the

Manned Orbiting Laboratory The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) was part of the United States Air Force (USAF) human spaceflight program in the 1960s. The project was developed from early USAF concepts of crewed space stations as reconnaissance satellites, and was a succ ...

project. The project was delayed and eventually terminated. He resigned as astronaut in April 1968 and returned to the operational Navy. Subsequent assignments included a tour of duty in Vietnam in 1968. He subsequently served with the "Sundowners" of Fighter Squadron 111 (

VF-111 Fighter Squadron 111 (VF-111), also known as the ''Sundowners'', was a fighter squadron of the United States Navy. Originally established as Fighter Squadron 11 (VF-11) on 10 October 1942, it was redesignated as VF-11A on 15 November 1946, redesig ...

) at

NAS Miramar Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. It is located in Miramar, a commu ...

, California flying the

F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber that was developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bower ...

, the "Evaluators" of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 4 (VX-4) at

NAS Point Mugu Naval Air Station Point Mugu was a United States Navy, United States naval air station near Oxnard, California, which operated as an independent Military base, base from 1941 to 2000, when it merged with nearby Naval Construction Battalion Center ...

, California as project officer, and Executive Officer and later Commanding Officer of the "Screaming Eagles" of VF-51, also flying the F-4. During 1974 and 1975, he served at the Navy Department's Bureau of Personnel in Washington, after which he was appointed as Commander of

(CVW-5) in San Francisco (1975–1976); followed by supervisor of the Naval School (1976–1977). On April 16, 1977, he accepted command of the replenishment ship/fleet oiler USS ''Kawishiwi'' homeported in

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

, a position he held until his retirement in May 1980. In total, he logged over 3,000 hours of flying time during his Navy career, and made more than 1,000 aircraft carrier landings. After his retirement from military duty in 1980, he spent 15 years with

Federal Express FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company specializing in transportation, e-commerce, and business services. The company is headquartered in Memphis, Tenness ...

Corporation in Memphis, Tennessee, achieving the level of Vice President, Aircraft Line Operations, six years as Executive Vice President at Intrepid Aviation Partners, and two years as COO/CEO Dee Howard Aircraft Maintenance. He died on September 19, 2006, in Memphis, Tennessee after an extended battle with diabetes and cancer. He was survived by his two daughters Vickie and Cindy (from his marriage with Florence Herlihy) and his fiancée Patty Kowalczyk.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finley, John L. 1935 births 2006 deaths Deaths from cancer in Tennessee Deaths from diabetes in the United States American astronauts United States Navy captains United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni American test pilots