Matthew Stuart Dominick (born December 7, 1981; CDR,

USN The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

) is a US Navy test pilot and NASA astronaut. He has more than 1,600 hours of flight time in 28 aircraft, 400 carrier-arrested landings, 61 combat missions, and almost 200 flight test carrier landings.

Early life and education

Matthew Stuart Dominick was born on December 7, 1981, in Wheat Ridge, Colorado to Donald and Rhonda Dominick. He graduated from D'Evelyn Junior/Senior High School in Littleton, Colorado. In 2005, he received a Bachelor of Science in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

at the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Schoo ...

with minors in physics and

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

, and was a member of the Navy

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

and Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.

Military career

Following his graduation from the University of San Diego, Dominick was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy. He attended Primary Flight Training at

NAS 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 State ...

and was designated a Naval Aviator in 2007. He completed

F/A-18 Super Hornet The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more adv ...

training with VFA-106 at NAS Oceana, before being assigned to

VFA-143 Strike Fighter Squadron 143 (VFA-143), also known as the "Pukin Dogs," is a United States Navy strike fighter squadron based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia. The Pukin Dogs are an operational fleet squadron and flying the F/A-18E Super Hornet ...

. With VFA-143, Dominick completed two deployments in support of

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

before being selected to attend the United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS) / Naval Postgraduate School co-operative program, allowing him to earn a Master of Science in

Systems Engineering Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their enterprise life cycle, life cycles. At its core, systems engineering util ...

from the

Naval Postgraduate School The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. It offers master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 70 fields of study to the U.S. Armed Forces, DOD ci ...

and attend the

U.S. Naval Test Pilot School The United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS), located at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River in Patuxent River, Maryland, provides instruction to experienced United States Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, and foreign military experi ...

. Following graduation from USNTPS, Dominick was designated a test pilot and was assigned to VX-23, based out of NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. There, he served as a developmental flight test project officer on numerous programs, including MAGIC CARPET, Joint Precision Approach & Landing Systems and Infrared Search and Track Pod. Dominick also contributed to the development of the X-47B,

V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a convention ...

E-2C Hawkeye The Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable tactical Airborne early warning and control, airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. This twin-turboprop aircraft was designed and developed duri ...

, and F-35C Lightning II. At the time of his selection as an Astronaut, Dominick was serving as Department Head with

VFA-115 Strike Fighter Squadron 115 (VFA-115) is known as the "Eagles", callsign "Talon", a United States Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighter squadron stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. Their tail code is ''NF''. It was established as Tor ...

, based out of Atsugi, Japan. His promotion to Navy Commander was approved on June 27, 2019, and made effective September 1, 2020.

NASA career

In June 2017, Dominick was selected as a member of

NASA Astronaut Group 22 NASA Astronaut Group 22 (nicknamed "The Turtles") is a group of twelve NASA astronauts selected in June 2017. They were joined by two Canadian Space Agency astronauts for training. History NASA announced the creation of this astronaut group in ...

, and began his two-year training. At the time of his selection, Dominick was at sea on the .

Personal life

Dominick and his wife, Faith, have two daughters. His parents still live in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.

Awards and honors

Dominick was the 2015 Naval Test Wing Atlantic Test Pilot of the Year and a Member of the 2015 Department of the Navy Test Team of the Year. He has received three Strike/Flight Air Medals, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals. He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Society of Flight Test Engineers, and the

Tailhook Association The Tailhook Association is a U.S.-based non-profit fraternal organization supporting the interests of sea-based aviation, with emphasis on aircraft carriers. The word tailhook refers to the hook underneath the tail of the aircraft that catches the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dominick, Matthew 1981 births Living people People from Wheat Ridge, Colorado University of San Diego alumni Military personnel from Colorado United States Navy officers United States Naval Aviators Naval Postgraduate School alumni United States Naval Test Pilot School alumni American test pilots United States Navy astronauts