Competitive spirit helped Oosterhous face challenges
Air Force veteran Dan Oosterhous has always been competitive, from his childhood to the present day.
While competing in singles for Texas High School in the Class 5A tennis tournament in Austin, Oosterhous had to overcome three highly ranked players to give the Tigers their first state championship in 1989.
“That was a long time ago,” Oosterhous said. “Growing up in (his hometown) Texarkana was incredible. I got to work with people like my high school coach John Watson. His son (Toby Watson) is now the Tigers’ tennis coach.”
Oosterhous, 47, is the men’s head tennis coach at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. He’s held that position nine years for the Falcons, who compete in the NCAA’s Division I.
Before that, he served in the dual role as a lieutenant colonel and pilot instructor in the Air Force and men’s tennis coach. During his 21-year Air Force career, he has accumulated more than 3,100 hours as an instructor in three aircraft.
That brings us back to Oosterhous’ last visit to Texarkana, which was in 2012 when Texas High bestowed a graduate award upon him for his personal accomplishments.
“I remember talking to this big audience at the school graduation, and literally three months later I had my strokes. It was kind of strange because I was still on active duty when it happened.”
Oosterhous, then just 41, suffered two brain stem strokes at the base of his brain that resulted in substantial loss of function in his left arm and leg.
“I was very healthy in 2009 when I went back to be the tennis coach and instructor pilot at the academy,” he said. “I did both those jobs about four years, and everything was great until one night I went to bed.”
He woke up with a terrible headache in the middle of the night. He had suffered a stroke.
“It wasn’t from any trauma or anything that I had done to myself,” Oosterhous said. “It was just an artery in my neck right below the bottom of my skull. It ruptured and caused a clot that went to my brain stem.”
After a second stroke, Oosterhous has made significant strides in his recovery, getting much support from his three children, Emma (now 23), Anna (20) and Andrew (18), and the rehabilitative power of competition, one of Oosterhous’ lifelong traits.
“I consider my health problems like a competition, a challenge,” said Oosterhous, noting his positive outlook has helped, too. “I think some of the good traits of people who like to compete can be an advantage.”
During his long road to recovery, he was aided by the Air Force’s Wounded Warrior team in 2014, and the USA Invictus Games in 2016, which allows injured veterans to compete in sports like swimming and cycling.
“The (Wounded Warrior program) is the best group of people I’ve ever been involved with,” Oosterhous said. “They’re very inspirational and motivating.
“They got me into a swimming pool right away, and even got me into a wheelchair to play tennis. They convinced me that I could ride a bike. It was because they pushed me and showed me that you don’t have to have two working arms and two working legs to play sports. You can do as much as you can with what you have. That’s what really helped me with my recovery.”
Oosterhous has competed twice (2014, 2016) in the Invictus Games, an international competition comprised of wounded veterans in sporting events. They’re like the Paralympics, for athletes with disabilities.
“They just finished the third one over in Australia. I was involved in the first two, one in London and the other in Orlando (Fla.). They were started by (Great Britain’s) Prince Harry after he saw what the Wounded Warrior program did for the American soldiers. He started it on an international basis. I got to meet him and compete in front of him.”
The fourth year of the Invictus Games will be in The Netherlands.
“I have moved on to become a coach in wheelchair tennis. It’s been an incredible journey for me.”
Oosterhous was recruited to play tennis for the Air Force. He starred four years, earning all-conference every year and being selected as the team’s most valuable player three times.
After graduating from the academy, he became a pilot in three planes, the C-21, T-53 and the Air Force’s largest plane, the cargo monster C-5 Galaxy.
“I did all that flying and got promoted along the way and made it up to instructor pilot in that airplane, but my passion was always to get back into tennis somehow at the academy,” Oosterhous said. “I was able to mix the jobs of flying and teaching tennis into one job. It was a dream position.”
And how does he feel about Veterans Day?
“I certainly appreciate when our soldiers and families get recognition they deserve because they’re supporting our country and our freedom,” Oosterhous said. “It’s important to have the nation’s support for our veterans.”
Oosterhous enjoys his job of coaching 17- to 21-year-old cadets in tennis. “I get to work with them the next four years and help shape and develop them into officers.”
Recruiting is a full-time job, Oosterhous said, because candidates have to meet strict academic and athletic requirements.
“We’re competing at the highest level of college athletics,” he said. “Recruiting good cadets is
a never-ending job.”
Some of Oosterhous’ classmates have become generals, but he decided he wanted to remain a tennis coach, which means he could could probably only attain the rank of colonel.
“I made a choice when I was pursuing my path to become the tennis coach—I knew it would limit my promotion opportunities,” he said. “But this is the job that I wanted because it is the best way I could give the most back to the Air Force. I love it.”
Today’s Air Force isn’t just about airplanes anymore. It’s also about space patrol. They even teach cadets how to fly drones at the academy.
“We basically do almost all the satellite work and anything up in the orbit, we help track that. It’s expanded a lot from just airplanes,” Oosterhous added.
Family is very important to Oosterhous. His father, George Oosterhous Sr., worked 32 years for the FBI.
“They made him retire when he reached the mandatory age, and he hasn’t worked a day since,” Oosterhous said. “My parents moved from Texarkana to Fort Worth (Texas) a few years ago to be closer to my older brother (George Jr.) and sister (Julie) and their grandchildren. (George Jr. has since moved to Denver).
“My younger brother, Tim, has lived in Arkansas about 20 years and he’s one of the high managers of the Ouachita National Forest near Hot Springs.”
Oosterhous also credits his family’s support with his recovery.
“All my family was very helpful throughout. They’ve been with me at my lowest point and also my highest point of competing again at a high level in sports.”
Oosterhous now focuses his main attention on his three children. Emma is a graduate student working on her master’s in Scotland, Anna is a sophomore at the University of Northern Colorado and Andrew is a high school senior in Colorado Springs. Andrew has filled out college entrance papers, but he’s not going into the military.
Oosterhous said it has been a “privilege that I was able to serve in the Air Force. I still want to give back because with the freedoms that we have in this country, we should not take any for granted.
“Whether you serve in the military or in the community, it’s valuable to our country.”