Special Operations Aviation
Richard Pere has over 35 years of management, operations and training experience. His career has encompassed planning and directing time-sensitive operations, developing budgets, conducting research, organizing and conducting training at the organizational and training facility level and supervising highly skilled professionals to meet a wide variety of customers.
He was responsible for the aviation support in the movement of commercial and governmental VIPs (the White House, Congress, defence and State Department, Foreign Heads of State, etc.) throughout the world. Richard Pere was President/Co-Founder, Presidential Airways (PAW), STI Aviation (STI), Air Quest (AQI) and their parent company Aviation Worldwide Services (AWS).
Richard Pere joined STI Aviation in 1995 as the Director of Special Programs, moved up within the company as the Director of Flight Operations and Vice President before becoming the President. After purchasing the rights to STI Aviation in 2000, he started AWS, PAW and AQI supporting new customers (DHL, FedEx and the U.S. Government). After AWS was sold to Prince Group in 2003, Mr Pere continued on as the President of all the companies until April 2010. He served as Senior Aviation Operations Analyst, ANSER, where he provided objective, timely research and unbiased recommendations on complex aviation technical and management problems in support of the Special Operations Joint Mission Analysis (JMA) for the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).
Mr Pere was Aviation Program Manager at DynCorp International, where he assembled a professional aviation team and required equipment to deploy and operate worldwide in support of DEA U.S. counterdrug operations. Mr Pere is a US Army (Retired 1992) – 21 years of service in the U.S. Military. Tour of duties included being an Aviation Operations, Plans, and Training Officer, Commanding Officer, Personnel Administrator, Executive Officer. Last assignment was as the Regimental Operations Officer in the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) responsible for the daily operations and management of 1,769 personnel and 168 aircraft in support of U.S. Special Operations Forces worldwide deployments.
Mr Pere holds a BA from Glassboro State College, Glassboro, NJ. Also a graduate of the U.S. Army’s Combined Arms Service and Staff School, Aviation Officer Advanced Course, Armor Officer Basic Course, Rotary Wing Aviation School, Airborne Course, Air Assault Course, U.S. Navy’s Second Class Diver School, Canadian Airborne School, and French Underwater Swimmers School.