 Ford retired from the Air Force in June 2008 as a Colonel.Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in July 2000, Ford reported for training in August 2000.Following the completion of two years of training and evaluation, he was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Advanced Vehicles Branch, working advanced exploration issues, and to the Space Shuttle Branch, working on the development and test of the Shuttle Cockpit Avionics Upgrade.