Page "Mario Runco, Jr." Paragraph 4

After graduating from Rutgers University, Mario worked for a year as a research hydrologist conducting ground water surveys for the United States Geological Survey on Long Island, New York.

In 1977, he joined the New Jersey State Police and, after completing training at the State Police Academy, he worked as a New Jersey State Trooper until he entered the United States Navy in June 1978.

Upon completion of Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, in September 1978, he was commissioned and assigned to the Naval Oceanographic and Atmospheric Research Laboratory in Monterey, California as a research meteorologist.

From April 1981 to December 1983, he served as the Meteorological Officer aboard the Amphibious Assault Ship USS Nassau ( LHA-4 ).

It was during this tour of duty that he earned his designation as a Naval Surface Warfare Officer.

From January 1984 to December 1985, he worked as a laboratory instructor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

From December 1985 to December 1986, he served as Commanding Officer of Oceanographic Unit 4 embarked aboard the Naval Survey Vessel USNS Chauvenet ( T-AGS 29 ), conducting hydrographic and oceanographic surveys of the Java Sea and Indian Ocean.

His last assignment within the Navy was as Fleet Environmental Services Officer, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Mario joined NASA in 1987 and remained on active duty as a NASA astronaut until 1994.