William Reid Pogue was an American astronaut and pilot who worked for the United States Air Force as a fighter and test pilot, and reached the rank of colonel. He was also a teacher, public speaker and author.
Born and educated in Oklahoma, Pogue graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University and enlisted in the USAF in 1951 and served for 24 years. He flew combat during the Korean War and with the USAF Thunderbirds, served as a flight instructor and mathematics professor at the United States Air Force Academy, and was a test pilot whose service included a two-years exchange with the Royal Air Force.
During his service as a flight instructor, Pogue was accepted as a trainee astronaut for NASA in 1966. His NASA career included one orbital mission as pilot of Skylab 4, whose crew conducted dozens of in-orbit research experiments and set a duration record of 84 days – the longest crewed flight – that was unbroken in NASA for over 20 years. The mission also had a dispute with ground control over schedule management that news media named The Skylab Mutiny.