Editing Alan Bean (section)

===Military service===
He was an Electronics Technician Striker at the [[Grand Prairie Armed Forces Reserve Complex|NAS Dallas]], [[Texas]], until September 1950, when he was [[Military discharge#Honorable|honorably discharged]].<ref name="nhhc"/> In January 1955, Bean was commissioned a [[U.S. Navy]] [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] through the NROTC at the University of Texas at Austin, and attended flight training.<ref name="nmmuseum" /> After completing flight training in June 1956, he was assigned to [[Second VA-44 (U.S. Navy)|Attack Squadron 44]] ([[Second VA-44 (U.S. Navy)|VA-44]]) at [[NAS Jacksonville]], [[Florida]], from 1956 to 1960, flying the [[F9F Cougar]] and [[A4D Skyhawk]]. After a four-year tour of duty,<ref>[http://www.lunarhall.org/bios/bean.html The Lunar Hall of Fame: Alan Bean] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325093852/http://www.lunarhall.org/bios/bean.html |date=March 25, 2009 }}</ref> he attended the [[U.S. Naval Test Pilot School]] (USNTPS) at [[NAS Patuxent River]], [[Maryland]], where his instructor was his future [[Apollo 12]] Commander, [[Pete Conrad]], graduating in November 1960.<ref name="komo">{{cite news |date=November 25, 1969 |title=Men of the Apollo XII Crew |page=29 |newspaper=The Kokomo Tribune |location=Kokomo, Indiana |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20437253/the_kokomo_tribune/ |via=newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="nhhc"/> Bean took [[art]] classes at [[St. Mary's College of Maryland]] during this tour,<ref>Bruckler, Michael (September 9, 2019). [https://inside.smcm.edu/news/2019/09/nasa-historians-speak-st-marys-college NASA Historians to Speak at St. Mary's College] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227214816/https://inside.smcm.edu/news/2019/09/nasa-historians-speak-st-marys-college|date=February 27, 2020}}</ref> and flew as a [[test pilot]] on several types of naval aircraft. Following his assignment at USNTPS and aviation safety training with the [[University of Southern California]] (USC), he went through additional instruction with his old Attack Squadron 44,<ref name="nhhc"/> and was assigned to Navy Attack Squadron [[VA-172 (U.S. Navy)|VA-172]] at [[NAS Cecil Field]], Florida, flying the [[A-4 Skyhawk]]s, during which time he was selected as a NASA astronaut.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Michelle |date=June 23, 1998 |title=NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project Edited Oral History Transcript |url=https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/BeanAL/BeanAL_6-23-98.htm |access-date=December 15, 2022 |website=NASA Johnson Space Center}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Ross-Nazzal |first=Jennifer |date=February 23, 2010 |title=NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project Edited Oral History Transcript |url=https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/BeanAL/BeanAL_2-23-10.htm |access-date=December 15, 2022 |website=NASA Johnson Space Center}}</ref>

Bean logged more than 7,145 hours of flying time, including 4,890 hours in [[jet aircraft]].<ref name="nasa-bio">{{cite web |date=August 1993 |title=Biographical Data: ALAN BEAN (CAPTAIN, USN, RET.) NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER) |url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/bean_alan.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830234447/https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/bean_alan.pdf |archive-date=August 30, 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=January 9, 2021}}</ref>