Our thirty-fifth recipient, Colonel (Ret) Michael J. Perez, completed the AMP at Harvard Business School in June 2021.  Mike retired from the Marine Corps and has returned to his aviation roots as an aviation consultant, instructor pilot, and defense contract pilot. After earning his wings as a Marine Aviator in 1997, Mike’s time as an operational AV-8B pilot from 1997-2013 included multiple deployments to Kosovo, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and to Japan, Korea, and the Philippines.  He served as a Weapons and Tactics Instructor, an Instructor Pilot for the AV-8B training squadron, and commanded Marine Attack Squadron 542.  He also commanded the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit from 2017-2019 during two deployments to Europe and Africa as the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force for Crisis Response in Africa, and then to Africa, Europe, and the Middle East aboard U.S. Navy amphibious assault ships.  Mike’s joint and staff assignments include serving as the Operations Officer of Marine Aircraft Group 14, the Current Operations Officer of the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing, and as a strategic planner and Executive Officer to the Director of the U.S. Central Command Strategy, Policy, and Plans Directorate.  He also served as the Operations Officer and then Chief of Staff for the Marine Corps Forces Central Command.  Mike was commissioned from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1994 with a BA in General Science.  He also earned a Master’s degree in Military Art and Science from the U.S. Air Force Air Command and Staff College, and a Master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.

Mike and his wife, Valerie, have two children.