Retiring after 46 years of service Published Feb. 14, 2008 By Senior Airman Brian Butkus 375th Airlift Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Retired Chief Master Sgt. James Petty was joined by family, friends and coworkers as he culminated a career, spanning for 26 years as an enlisted servicemember and 20 as a civilian, with a retirement ceremony Feb. 4. Mr. Petty began his Air Force career in 1962 working with the 7151st Combat defense Squadron, Royal Air Force Brize Norton, England, as a communications Airman. However, wasn't until 1971 when he tranferred into the Disaster Preparedness career field that his true calling took hold. After just five years into his new career field, Mr. Petty was chosen as the first ever primary duty disaster preparedness functional inspector on the Strategic Air Command Inspection Team. In addition to his groundbreaking work with the Strategic Air Command Inspection Team, Mr. Petty was selected to stand-up a Disaster Preparedness Program within the 314th Air Division at Seoul, Korea, a unit that had not previously existed. "Mr. Petty is responsible for establishing so many facets of our career field," said Roy McGeathy, Emergency Management program analyst at Scott. "Through continuous innovation, personal genius and stellar leadership, Mr. Petty pioneered numerous emergency management concepts adopted and institutionalized throughout the Air Force and had extremely profound influence in the Emergency Management community in every aspect." After being promoted to chief master sergeant in December of 1983, Mr. Petty continued his legacy as an enlisted professional until retiring in 1988. "When I retired in 1988, I honestly thought my career in Emergency Management was over," said Mr. Petty. "Upon retiring it only took me a short time to realize that I had so much more to offer those in my career field, so I decided to join the civil service ranks of the Air Force." Once Mr. Petty joined the civilian work force at Scott, he again developed many plans that were adopted by the Air Force. In the early 1990s, Mr. Petty spearheaded the development of Disaster Preparedness UTCs to provide a capability that did not exist within the Air Force. Ten years later, the DoD embraced his Capability Based Planning. Not long after that in early 2000, Mr. Petty began the development of an Air Force Emergency Management Plan template that allowed young personnel to 'fill in the blanks' and develop an effective response and recovery plan at any location in the world. Once again the Air Force adopted this template as a standard. "Mr. Petty's retirement culminates more than forty-five years of faithful and dedicated service to our nation," said Mr. McGeathy. "To sum up Mr. Petty's career, I would say his professional demeanor and caring and mentoring of Airmen has been the springboard for hundreds of successful careers, many of whom have gone on to be become chief master sergeants and continue his legacy of greatness."