Brigadier General Chuck Yeager was a United States Air Force officer who, on October 14, 1947, became the first pilot to break the sound barrier. He began his career as an aircraft mechanic and later trained as a pilot. After WWII, Yeager worked as a test pilot for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), where he flew experimental rocket-powered aircraft, leading to the achievement of breaking the sound barrier and breaking other speed and altitude records. He also served as the first commandant of the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School, training astronauts for NASA and the Air Force.