While he would have been content just watching planes take off from nearby Combs Field, young Jack became determined to do more than be a spectator.

[6] Swigert received a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from University of Colorado in 1953, where he also played football for the Buffaloes.

[3][2] After completing his tour of active duty in the USAF, he served as a jet fighter pilot with the Massachusetts (1957–1960) and Connecticut Air National Guard (1960–1965).

[9] Swigert held a position as engineering test pilot for North American Aviation before joining NASA.

The prime crew had been exposed to German Measles (the rubella virus) from Charles Duke and, because Mattingly had no immunity to the disease, NASA did not want to risk him falling ill during critical phases of the flight.

[14] Apollo 13 was the third crewed lunar-landing attempt, but was aborted after the rupture of an oxygen tank in the spacecraft's service module.

[16] NASA Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton, who selected the astronauts, recommended Swigert as command module pilot for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, the first joint mission with the Soviet Union.

Slayton felt Swigert deserved another chance to fly after having been selected for Apollo 13 two days before launch, and performing well.

[3] Aware that his spaceflight career was most likely over,[3] Swigert took a leave of absence from NASA in April 1973 and went to Washington, D.C. to become executive director of the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives.

[13] He left in 1981 to join International Gold and Minerals Limited as vice president for financial and corporate affairs.

[23] In February 1982, Swigert left International Gold and Minerals Limited to run for U.S. Congress in the newly created 6th district as a Republican.

He died of respiratory failure at its Lombardi Cancer Center on December 27, seven days before the beginning of his congressional term, aged 51.

Fifteen astronauts, including fellow Apollo 13 crewmates Jim Lovell and Fred Haise, were among the thousand mourners at his full military honors funeral in Denver, presided over by Archbishop James Casey, which included a missing man flyover by A-7 Corsairs of the Colorado Air National Guard.

[32] President Richard Nixon awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Apollo 13 crew shortly after the conclusion of their mission.

On August 18, 2009, the Space Foundation and Colorado Springs District 11 partnered to open the Jack Swigert Aerospace Academy.

He was a fellow of the American Astronautical Society; associate fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and member of the Quiet Birdmen, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Tau Sigma, and Sigma Tau.