Editing David Scott (section)

==Early life and education==
Scott was born June 6, 1932, at [[Randolph Air Force Base|Randolph Field]] (for which he received his middle name) near [[San Antonio, Texas]].{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|p=12}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28979695/quadcity_times/|title=Flying is in astronaut's blood|newspaper=Quad-City Times|location=Davenport, Iowa|date=February 27, 1969|page=29|last1=Furlong|first1=William Barry|agency=World Book Science Service|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=February 28, 2019|archive-date=April 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404015802/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28979695/quadcity_times/|url-status=live}}</ref> His father was [[Tom William Scott]] (1902–1988), a [[fighter pilot]] in the [[United States Army Air Corps]] who would rise to the rank of [[brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]]; his mother was Marian Scott ({{Nee|Davis}}; 1904–1999).<ref>{{cite web|title=Brigadier General Tom W. Scott|url=https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/105644/brigadier-general-tom-w-scott/|publisher=United States Air Force|access-date=January 25, 2019|archive-date=January 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130000207/https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/105644/brigadier-general-tom-w-scott/|url-status=live}}</ref> Scott lived his earliest years at Randolph Field, where his father was stationed, before moving to an air base in Indiana, and then in 1936 to Manila in the Philippines, [[History of the Philippines (1898–1946)|then under U.S. rule]]. David remembered his father as a strict disciplinarian. The family returned to the United States in December 1939. By the time of the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] in 1941, the family was living in San Antonio again; shortly thereafter Tom Scott was deployed overseas.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|pp=11–14}}

As it was felt that he needed more discipline than he would receive with his father gone for three years, David was sent to [[Texas Military Institute]], spending his summers at [[Hermosa Beach]] in California with his father's college friend, David Shattuck, after whom he had been named. Determined to become a pilot like his father, David built many [[model airplane]]s and watched with fascination war films about flying. By the time of Tom Scott's return, David was old enough to be allowed to go up in a military aircraft with him, and in David Scott's autobiography remembered it as "the most exciting thing I had ever experienced".{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|pp=14–19}}

David Scott was active in the [[Boy Scouts of America]], achieving its second-highest rank, [[Life Scout]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scouting.org/FILESTORE/pdf/02-558.pdf|title=Astronauts and the BSA|work=Fact sheet|publisher=[[Boy Scouts of America]]|access-date=June 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622104220/http://www.scouting.org/FILESTORE/pdf/02-558.pdf|archive-date=June 22, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> With Tom Scott assigned to [[March Air Force Base]] near [[Riverside, California]], David attended [[Riverside Polytechnic High School]], where he joined the swimming team and set several state and local records. Before David could finish high school, Tom Scott was transferred to Washington, D.C., and after some discussion as to whether he should remain in California to graduate, David attended Western High School in Washington, graduating in June 1949.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|pp=19–20}}

David Scott wanted an appointment to the [[United States Military Academy]] at West Point but lacked connections to secure one.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|p=20}} He took a government [[civil service examination]] for competitive appointments and accepted a swimming scholarship to the [[University of Michigan]] where he was an honor student in the [[University of Michigan College of Engineering|engineering school]]. In the spring of 1950, he received and accepted an invitation to attend West Point.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|p=20}} Scott attended Michigan on a swimming scholarship, set a freshman record in the 440-yard [[freestyle swimming|freestyle]], and the team captain during Scott's year there, Jack Craigie, recalled that the West Point swimming coach, Gordon Chalmers, was happy to get Scott from Michigan, one of the dominant programs of the time.<ref>{{cite news|access-date=May 4, 2020|title=Swimmer Dave Scott: 7th human to walk on the Moon|url=https://swimswam.com/swimmer-dave-scott-7th-human-to-walk-on-the-moon/|date=April 17, 2020|website=[[SwimSwam]]|archive-date=April 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428003403/https://swimswam.com/swimmer-dave-scott-7th-human-to-walk-on-the-moon/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Scott still wanted to fly and wanted to be commissioned in the newly established [[United States Air Force]] (USAF).{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|pp=20–21}} The [[United States Air Force Academy|Air Force Academy]] was founded in 1954, the year Scott graduated from West Point; an interim arrangement had been made whereby a quarter of West Point and [[United States Naval Academy]] graduates could volunteer to be commissioned as Air Force officers.<ref>{{cite web|last=Simon|first=Steven|title=Celebrating the Air Force Academy's 60th anniversary|work=U.S. Air Force Academy |date=April 4, 2014|url=https://www.usafa.af.mil/News/Features/Display/Article/619759/celebrating-the-air-force-academys-60th-anniversary/|access-date=January 25, 2019|archive-date=January 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126113725/https://www.usafa.af.mil/News/Features/Display/Article/619759/celebrating-the-air-force-academys-60th-anniversary/|url-status=live}}</ref> Earning a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in [[military science]],{{sfn|Chaikin|p=605}} Scott graduated 5th in his class of 633 and was commissioned in the Air Force.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|p=26}}