Local Marine selected as astronaut candidate

  A Yuma Marine pilot has been selected as a candidate to be a NASA astronaut.

  Maj. Brian Cole, AV-8B Harrier instructor and aviation safety officer assigned to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1, is competing against 30 other Marines for the NASA position in August 2009.

  "Traditionally, zero to two Marines are selected per board to advance to the NASA program," said Lt. Col. Timothy Hogan, member of the Headquarters Marine Corps astronaut selection board.

  Selection boards are not always an annual event. The last board was convened in 2003 when one Marine was selected, said Hogan.

  Heavy competition makes being selected even harder.

  "Between 10 and 15 new astronauts should be selected from the thousands of applicants," said Teresa Gomez, assistant manager of NASA's Astronaut Selection Program.

  "I know quite a few people with very strong credentials on the list. To be in that group is an honor," said Cole, 41, a Franklin, N.Y., native.

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Lance Cpl. Gregory Aalto writes for The Desert Warrior, the newspaper of the Marine Corps Air Station, from which this story is reprinted.