Christopher Joseph "Gus" Loria (born July 9, 1960, in Newton, Massachusetts) is a retired United States Marine Corps Colonel and a medically retired NASA astronaut. He was originally scheduled to fly on STS-113 as pilot; however, he was grounded from spaceflight due to a severe back injury. Personal Colonel "CJ" Loria was born in Belmont, Massachusetts. His mother, Joan Loria, resides in Belmont, Massachusetts and his father, Robert L. Loria is deceased. Education Loria graduated from Belmont High School in 1978 and the U.S. Naval Academy Preparatory School in 1979. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy shortly after and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in general engineering in 1983, and is a Distinguished Hispanic graduate of the Naval Academy. He later completed 30 credits of coursework toward a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering at the Florida Institute of Technology. In 2004 he earned a Master in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he was twice selected as a Harvard University Fellow. As a Fellow he worked on clean energy technology, and sequestration. In June 2008 he earned an Executive Certificate in Business Management and Leadership from the MIT Sloan School of Management. Military career Loria received his commission after graduating from Annapolis in 1983, and was designated a Naval Aviator in July 1988. He transitioned to the F/A-18 Hornet with Strike Fighter Squadron 125 (VFA-125) at Naval air Station Lemoore, California, during August 1988 through August 1989. His next assignment was with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314 (VMFA-314) the "Black Knights" at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California. While assigned to the Black Knights he deployed to Bahrain for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm where he flew 42 combat missions in support of allied operations and earned three citations for valor. In 1992, while assigned as an instructor pilot to Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101 (VMFAT-101) he was selected for the United States Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. January 1994 to July 1996, he was assigned to the Strike Aircraft Test Squadron, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, as an experimental test pilot. Loria distinguished himself in the areas of high angle of attack flight test, aircraft departure and spin testing, ordnance, flight controls and aircraft flying qualities testing for the F/A-18 Hornet, NASA F/A-18 ‘HARV’ thrust vectoring aircraft