Born on November 14, 1933, and raised in Biloxi, Mississippi, to Fred Wallace Haise Sr. and Lucille ("née" Blacksher) Haise. He attended Biloxi High School, from which he graduated in 1950, and Perkinston Junior College (now Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College), with original aims of a career in journalism, receiving an Associate of Arts degree in 1952. He was a Boy Scout, earning the rank of Star Scout. Eligible for the draft and despite being apprehensive of flying, he joined the Naval Aviation Cadet (NAVCAD) training program. Haise underwent Naval Aviator training from 1952 to 1954 and served as a U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, from March 1954 to September 1956.