Colonel USAF. Possible applicant for MOL and NASA group 5. He enrolled at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He was accepted at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, in 1952 and on graduation was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force in 1956. He took undergraduate pilot training at Marana Air Base, Arizona, and Webb AFB, Texas, and in 1958 undertook advanced gunnery at Luke AFB, Arizona. He then returned to the University of Texas, graduating with his master of science degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1963. In 1965, Dent was chosen to attend the Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS) at Edwards AFB and remained at the school from 1965-1968 as an academic and flight instructor.