Sherwood Clark "Woody" Spring (born September 3, 1944) is a retired United States Army colonel and former NASA astronaut. Spring is married with two children. He is the father of United States Olympian Justin Spring. Sherwood Spring has logged 165 hours in space, 12 of which were spent conducting spacewalks. Spring has also accumulated 3,500 hours in 25 different military and civilian aircraft; over 1,500 of those hours were spent in jet aircraft.
Personal life
Spring was active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second highest rank, Life Scout. Spring met his future wife, Debbie Cooper (an elementary school physical education teacher), while they were both students at the University of Arizona.
Spring's son, Justin, was a member of the 2008 US Olympic Men's Gymnastics team that earned bronze in Beijing, was the men's gymnastics head coach at the University of Illinois for 12 seasons and currently an assistant coach at the University of Alabama.
Education
Graduated from Ponaganset High School (North Scituate, Rhode Island) in 1963; received a Bachelor of Science degree in General Engineering from the United States Military Academy in 1967 and a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Arizona in 1974. Graduated from the United States Naval Test Pilot School in 1976 and the Defense Systems Management College in 1989.
Organizations
Member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Association of the United States Army, Association of Space Explorers (ASE), and a lifetime member of the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy.
Special honors
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, 2 Bronze Stars, Meritorious Service Medal, 3 Army Commendation Medals, 9 Air Medals, a Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medals, and NASA Space Flight Medal. Recipient in 1986 of two honorary doctorate degrees: a Doctor of Science, and one Doctor of Humane Letters.
Recipient of the Victor A. Prather Award in 1985 for performance during an EVA.
Experience
After graduation from West Point in 1967, Spring served two tours of duty in Vietnam. The first was from 1968 to 1969 with the 101st Airborne Division. The second tour, 1970–1971, came immediately after flight school, where he served as a helicopter pilot with the 1st Cavalry Division. Upon return, he received fixed wing training en route to a master's degree program with the University of Arizona in 1974. After a short tour at Edwards Air Force Base, California as a flight test engineer, he attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. He then returned to the army's Flight Test Facility at Edwards AFB to complete four years as an experimental test pilot. He is currently a professor at the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) and lives in San Diego, California.