Randall H. Cunningham, the sole U.S. Navy ace pilot of the Vietnam War, called him “the greatest guy I trained under,” and subsequently flew practically alongside him during Operation Linebacker. In the 1986 film ‘Top Gun,’ he served as a consultant and made an appearance, although his call sign, “Viper,” was sported by another actor.
By the time of his death at age 82 on June 23, 2024, Rear Adm. Kenneth W. “Pete” Pettigrew had reserved himself a special spot in Navy legend.
Pettigrew was born on Feb. 3, 1942, in Glencoe, Illinois. In 1960, he entered Stamford University in Connecticut, where he excelled in swimming and water polo. Graduating with a degree in biological science, he also studied in the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program, which set him on his life’s calling at Naval Air Station Pensacola as an ensign in October 1964. He began flight training in December, moving up from the Beechcraft T-34 Mentor turboprop to the turbojet North American T-2A Buckeye.
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Qualifying as a jet pilot in June 1966, Lt. j.g. Pettigrew was assigned to the replacement fighter squadron VF-121 “Pacemakers” at Naval Air Station Miramar, California. From there, he transferred from the Pacific Fleet Replacement Center for McDonnell F-4 Phantom IIs bound for the Pacific, before moving to VF-151 Vigilantes” aboard the aircraft carrier Coral Sea for the first deployment in the Tonkin Gulf, from April 1967 to February 1968. He followed that with a second tour from July 1968 to February 1969.
Pettigrew then returned to VF-121 at Miramar as an instructor pilot and senior landing signal officer.
During that time, he also served as an instructor in air-to-ground and air-to-air combat in the newly formed U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School at Miramar — a training outfit soon to be more widely known as Top Gun. It was during this time Pettigrew acquired his “Viper” call sign.
In December 1971, Pettigrew transferred to Carrier Air Wing 11 aboard the carrier Kitty Hawk, where he was promoted to lieutenant commander in March 1972 and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for leading a strike on a North Vietnamese petroleum, oil and lubricant facility near Quang Nap.
However, Pettigrew’s apogee of fame came on May 6, 1972, as he piloted an F-4J Phantom of VF-114 “Aardvarks” with Lt. j.g. Michael McCabe as his radar intercept officer, or RIO, and Lt. Robert Hughes and RIO Lt. j.g. Adolph Cruz on a barrier combat air patrol over North Vietnam.
Soon after a rendezvous above their control ship, the missile cruiser Chicago, an accompanying F-4J’s radar malfunctioned and its wingman escorted it back. The two remaining Phantoms carried on with Hughes in the lead, since Pettigrew discovered neither of his radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow missiles and only two of his four AIM-9G Sidewinder heat-seekers were functioning.
Despite those handicaps, when Cruz reported unidentified radar bearing 330 degrees at 35 miles distance they went after what proved to be four North Vietnamese Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s in a tight “welded wing” formation at a lower 4,000-foot altitude.
“You’re shooter, I’m cover,” Pettigrew radioed, “Let’s engage!”
Hughes launched an AIM-9G Sidewinder heat-seeking missile at the “tail-end Charlie,” which blew off wing and tail sections and left a hole in the fuselage.
“Good shot! Good shot!” Pettigrew exclaimed, following the MiG down until satisfied it was going nowhere else, before rejoining Hughes, who launched two more Sidewinders at a remaining MiG, neither of which guided.
Encouraged by McCabe’s assurance that the other two retiring MiGs were in no position to present a threat, Pettigrew launched one of his AIM-9s, saw one of Hughes’ missiles explode next to the fleeing MiG, then saw his own go up its tailpipe a fraction of a second later.
Evading fragments, Pettigrew saw the enemy pilot eject.
At that point, left with missiles of questionable reliability, Pettigrew and Hughes decided to quit while they were ahead and make their way to Kitty Hawk. The two were awarded Silver Stars for their double victory. Hughes, who survived the war, died in a fatal collision with another aircraft on Jan. 30, 1979.
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Pettigrew’s success marked him as the only Top Gun instructor to put his training to practical use against an enemy plane. Just two days later, on May 8, one of his earlier pupils, Lt. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, was credited with a MiG-17, which he shared with his RIO, Lt. j.g. Willie Driscoll Jr. as their second of an eventual five victories.
In November 1972, Kitty Hawk steamed homeward. By then, Pettigrew had flown 325 combat missions in three deployments, earning the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals, 30 Strike/Flight Air Medals and two Navy Commendation Medals with “V” devices.
He resigned his regular Navy commission in August 1973, but continued in the Naval Reserve, commanding VF-302 at NAS Miramar from January 1980 to January 1982, and advancing in quick succession to captain and rear admiral. He served as a reserve deputy in the Atlantic Fleet before resigning from the service entirely in January 1998.
In the civilian world, Pettigrew served as a technical consultant for Paramount Pictures from 1983 to 1986 during the filming of ‘Top Gun.’ Although he played a short role in it, his call sign was lent to Tom Skerritt’s character, Mike “Viper” Metcalf.
Pettigrew also worked at Pacific Southwest Airlines (later U.S. Airlines) until 2002 and frequently worked as a San Diego Air and Space Museum docent.
Pettigrew died June 23, 2024. His family ceremoniously delivered his cremated ashes to their final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery.
He left behind a significant contribution to a wartime statistic: Of 58 MiGs downed by U.S. Navy aircraft over Vietnam, 25 were vanquished by graduates — and one instructor — of the Top Gun school.
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