Kent Rominger was born August 7, 1956, in Del Norte, Colorado. He graduated from Del Norte High School in 1974. In 1978, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University, and in 1987 a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. He and his wife Mary Sue have one daughter.

Rominger received his commission through the Aviation Reserve Officer Candidate (AVROC) Program in 1979, and was designated a Naval Aviator in September 1980. Following training in the F-14 Tomcat, he was assigned to Fighter Squadron 2 (VF-2) from October 1981 to January 1985 aboard the aircraft carriers USS Ranger and USS Kitty Hawk. While assigned to VF-2, Rominger attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN). In 1987 he completed the Naval Postgraduate School/Test Pilot School Cooperative Program, and was assigned as F-14 Project Officer to the Carrier Suitability Branch of the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. During his tour of duty, Rominger completed the initial carrier suitability sea trials of the F-14B, logging the first aircraft carrier arrestment and catapult launch in the upgraded Tomcat. In September 1990, he reported to Fighter Squadron 211 (VF-211), where he served as Operations Officer and completed a Desert Storm Deployment to the Persian Gulf aboard USS Nimitz.

He has been awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and was the Naval Air Test Center Test Pilot of the Year in 1988. He received the Society of Experimental Test Pilots Ray E. Tenhoff Award in 1990, the Jack Northrop Award in 1996, and the Colorado State University Distinguished Service Award in 1997. He was named West Coast Tomcat Fighter Pilot of the Year in 1992 and was listed in the Top Ten Carrier Landing Distinction in Airwings Two and Nine. In 2000 he was nominated and inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame. He is an inductee into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Selected by NASA in March 1992, Rominger reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992. He completed one year of training and qualified for assignment as a pilot on future Space Shuttle flight crews. Rominger was initially assigned to work technical issues for the Astronaut Office Operations Development Branch. He also served as Chief of the Astronaut Office Shuttle Operations Branch, and Deputy Director, Flight Crew Operations. A veteran of five space flights, Rominger has logged over 1,600 hours in space These were all as a STS Orbiter crew member, the highest total in this category. He flew as pilot on STS-73 in 1995, STS-80 in 1996 and STS-85 in 1997, and was crew commander on STS-96 in 1999 and STS-100 in 2001. Rominger served as Chief of the Astronaut Office and professional head of the NASA Astronaut Corps from 2002 to 2006, responsible for the mission preparation activities of all Space Shuttle and future International Space Station crews and their support personnel.