174th Fighter Wing Director of Psychological Health Receives Recognition

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Mr. Mike Pettinelli, 174th Fighter Wing Director of Psychological Health

SYRACUSE NY (03/22/2012)(readMedia)-- SYRACUSE-Mike Pettinelli, the civilian director of Psychological Health for the New York Air National Guard's 174th Fighter Wing has been recognized for his work by the Air National Guard.

Pettinelli, who lives in Rome, received a Certificate of Outstanding Achievement for the Air National Guard region that includes New York and the New England states during the annual Air National Guard Psychological Health Professionals Conference in Knoxville, TN.

Pettinelli, who has worked at the 174th for just over a year, was recognized for making himself available to help his counterparts at other Air National Guard Bases in the area

"I could not have done the job without the support of leadership. The recognition is more a reflection of my colleagues and team," Pettinelli said.

Pettinelli's office is co-located with other offices in the Hancock Field Joint Deployment Health and Wellness Center (J-HAWC), the first such center in the ANG.

The J-HAWC serves as a centralized location where Airmen and their families can obtain needed services, information and skills to foster resiliency and wellness.

While the 174th has a different mission set than most other Air National Guard units because it flies continuous combat missions with MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft instead, members still deploy into combat zones and still have psychological needs, Pettinelli said.

"Stress is stress and different peoples' bodies handle stress in different ways," Pettinelli said.