Air Force Academy

Lt. Col. Dan Oosterhous

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Position: Head Coach Experience: Third Season

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Lt. Col. Dan Oosterhous enters his third season as the men's tennis coach at the Air Force Academy after being named the program's 12th head coach on October 1, 2009. Oosterhous, a 1993 graduate of the Academy, replaced legendary head coach Rich Gugat, who retired after 36 years at the helm of the men's tennis program.

Oosterhous led the Falcons to a 10-14 record last season and enters the 2011-12 campaign with a 20-27 career mark. Last season, he coached the Falcons to a 6-1 victory over service-academy rival Army and Lance Wilhelm and Andy Jackson to a No. 7 doubles ranking in the Mountain Region.

During his first season, Oosterhous guided his team to a nine-match winning streak, the longest since the 1999-2000 campaign. He also coached freshman Lance Wilhelm to 20 overall singles wins, including a 13-9 record at the No. 1 singles spot and a 2-1 mark against regionally ranked opponents.

The Falcons have been impressive off the court as well in Oosterhous' two seasons. He has had three players (Brett Rodgers, Sam Barnes and Steven Young) named academic all-Mountain West Conference, while senior Mike Tope has been named an MWC scholar-athlete for three consecutive years.

In addition to coaching, Oosterhous is an active instructor pilot in the Air Force Academy's Powered Flight Program. The program, available to all cadets during their senior year, provides exposure to the aviation career field and gives cadets their first experience flying a single-engine aircraft, with an opportunity to solo to T-52 aircraft at the end of the program.

Oosterhous returned to the Academy from Scott AFB, Ill., where he was the Chief of the Program Objective Memorandum branch and Executive Officer to the Director of Strategic Plans, Requirements, and Programs. In this capacity he was responsible for developing, coordinating, and presenting Air Mobility Command's appropriated budget consisting of 240 Mobility Air Force programs valued at over $110 billion. While at Scott AFB, he completed two deployment tours in Southwest Asia and most recently returned from Baghdad, Iraq, serving as an advisor to the Iraq Civil Aviation Authority. He successfully transitioned U.S. Air Force control of civil aviation operations back to Iraqi sovereignty for the first time since 2003.

The coach is one of the best tennis players to graduate from the Air Force Academy. Oosterhous, the 1989 Texas High School 5A state singles champion, is fifth on the Academy's career list with 56 wins at the No. 1 singles position and second on the career list with 57 victories at the No. 1 doubles position. As a senior, Oosterhous posted an outstanding 22-3 singles record at the No. 1 position, the fourth best single-season winning percentage (.880) at that spot in program history.

As co-captain, he led the Falcons to a phenomenal 25-2 dual match record in 1993, the best mark in the 53-year history of Air Force tennis. That season he earned his third team MVP award, one of just seven players in the program to win the award at least three times. He was also selected to the all-conference team in each of his four seasons at AFA and received the Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award for Region VII.

Oosterhous graduated from USAFA in 1993 with athletic distinction and a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. Upon graduation, he remained at the Academy as assistant men's tennis coach for the 1994 season and was the 1993 DOD Interservice Men's Singles champion.

Oosterhous then completed Euro-NATO Joint Pilot Training at Sheppard AFB, Texas, followed by assignment as C-21 Instructor Pilot and Chief of Training for the 457th Airlift Squadron, Andrews AFB, Md. He then served as C-5 Instructor Pilot and Chief Wing Air Mobility Director at Travis AFB, Calif. Oosterhous earned his master's degree from the Air Force Institute of Technology by completing the Advanced Study of Air Mobility program and then served as C-5 Evaluator Pilot, Chief of Standardization and Evaluation for the 3rd Airlift Squadron and Senior Wing Executive Officer at the 436th Airlift Wing at Dover AFB, Del., before transferring to Scott AFB.

Oosterhous, a native of Texarkana, Texas, is a senior pilot with over 3,000 hours in the C-5, C-21, T-38, and T-37. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Allison, and they have three children, Emma (15), Anna (13), and Andrew (11).