Pete Pettigrew

Kenneth "Pete" Pettigrew (3 February 1942 - 23 June 2024) was a retired United States Navy rear admiral.

In early 1970 he joined the relatively new United States Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) as an air-to-air and air-to-ground instructor.

On 6 May 1972, while flying an F-4J of VF-114, he and his radar intercept officer Lieutenant (junior grade) Mike McCabe shot down a Vietnam People's Air Force MiG-21 with an AIM-9 Sidewinder.

[3][1][4] He resigned from active duty in August 1973, but transferred to and remained in the United States Naval Reserve until January 1998.

Following his separation from active duty and transition to the Naval Air Reserve, he worked as a pilot for Pacific Southwest Airlines (later US Airways), retiring in 2002.

F-4S Phantom IIs of VF-302 in flight over NAS North Island , California on 27 March 1981. Pettigrew piloted the lead aircraft