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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Sponsor

Honored by:
Benenati Henderson Mische Families

Michael Petty was born in Port Chester, NY, 29 May 1963. He attended Corpus Christi grammar school and Salesian High School in New Rochelle. He graduated from Manhattan College, Bronx NY, in 1986 with an undergraduate degree in Business Management and an ROTC commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the USAF.

Mike attended Specialized Undergraduate Navigator Training at Mather AFB, CA. Upon completion of training in 1987, he was assigned to Fairchild AFB flying KC-135s. In 1993, Captain Mike Petty was selected to the 4950th Test Wing, Wright Patterson AFB, OH; which relocated to Edwards AFB the following year and was renamed the 452nd Flight Test Squadron. While assigned to those units, Mike became qualified in every model of the C-135 and C-18 airframes supporting a wide variety of test and research programs. Some of those programs included the Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft (ARIA) mission, the ARGUS optical platform and the BIG CROW electronic countermeasures test aircraft. He held positions as Training and Standardization and Evaluation Flight Commander, Modifications Manuals Program Manager and PACER CRAG Test Project Navigator.

In 1998 he moved from the squadron to the 412 Test Wing Standardization and Evaluation office. In 1999, Maj Petty moved to the 33rd Flight Test Squadron, Ft Dix, NJ, now the Air Materiel Command Test and Evaluation Squadron, where he served as a Test Director, Flight Commander, Assistant Director of Operations and Senior Test Director.

While assigned to the 33rd, Mike was selected for an additional duty as Presidential Advance Agent, providing world-wide support to Air Force One for Presidential movements and OCONUS support to Air Force Two for Vice Presidential movements. Advance agents travel as a member of the White House Advance Team directing all aspects of logistics and security and safety for AF-1 and AF-2. In May of 2004, Maj Petty was assigned to the USAF Air Mobility Battlelab where he worked as a Program Manager and the Operations Division Chief.

He retired from the USAF in Jan 2007. Mike Petty is married to the former Annemarie Benenati and they have 2 children; Katherine and Michael.