He graduated from Bellingham High School in 1969 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the United States Naval Academy in 1973.

Following tours as an F/A-18 flight instructor and as a catapult officer aboard USS Coral Sea, Oswald resigned from active Navy duty and joined Westinghouse Electric Corporation as a civilian test pilot.

In 2000 and 2001, he served on active duty as Deputy Commander, Joint Task Force – Computer Network Operations based in Washington, D.C.

[1] Oswald joined NASA in November 1984 as an aerospace engineer and instructor pilot and was selected as an astronaut candidate in June 1985.

He was also the Chief of the Operations Development Branch within the Astronaut Office and served as Assistant Director of Engineering at Johnson Space Center.

In 2002, his youngest brother, Navy SEAL Commander Peter G. Oswald was killed in El Salvador during a helicopter fast-roping accident during joint training exercises with the Salvadoran forces.