Homestead holds retirement ceremony for Col. Gerald Micheletti

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Nicholas Caceres
  • 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. --  Col. Gerald Micheletti retired from the Air Force during a ceremony here May 4.

Micheletti started his career in the Air Force Academy in 1971 and graduated in 1975. A distinguished graduate, Micheletti also was a star hockey player. He went on to be the assistant hockey coach at the Academy in 1976 before starting his career in aircraft maintenance. He went on to lead for 37 years and 11 months of service.

Micheletti was the commander of the 482nd Maintenance Group from July 17, 2011, to May 1, 2013.

During his 20 months as commander, Micheletti led a group with more than 700 assigned personnel through two Operational Exercise Inspections and the first-ever virtual unit climate assessment. His group received an 'Outstanding' rating during the 2011 Logistics and Compliance Assessment Program and inspection for quality assurance.

Micheletti is a Legion of Merit recipient, distinguished by meritorious conduct and performance of outstanding services to the U.S. as commander of the 482nd MXG.

A model steward of Air Force resources, Micheletti managed an operations budget of $12.8 million. During his command, he improved 95 percent of the group's facilities to include a $1.9 million for aircraft sunshade replacements. Despite the strong winds and heavy rain of tropical storm Sandy, Micheletti and his team continued to turn sorties and kept the 482nd Fighter Wing flying during an impressive 100 percent rate during an Operational Readiness Exercise.

"The greatest thing for me in the last 20 months is having more young Airmen than we used to, both in our unit and in the reserves," said Micheletti. "These youngsters absolutely make you proud. I'm also very proud of my family. With all these moves - we uprooted the kids numerous times and some of those moves were not at convenient times. But I'm proud of the adults they've become and the grandchildren they've brought."