Petrucci promoted in Space Force

For The Madera Tribune

Nicole Petrucci.

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In a ceremony held at the Pentagon in Washington D.C., Madera High School graduate Nicole Petrucci was promoted to Colonel in the U.S. Space Force.

She was joined by family, friends, honored guests, and co-workers from many stages of her career, including her husband, Colonel Christopher Buckley of the U.S. Air Force, who is also a Madera High alum, for the April promotion ceremony.

Colonel Petrucci began her career with a commission through Air Force ROTC at California State University, Fresno in May 2001. In October 2020, she transferred from the Air Force to the U.S. Space Force.

With 20 years of experience in space operations, she has served as Combat Crew Commander, Instructor, and Evaluator on the minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, the PARCS missile warning and space tracking radar, and various classified satellite systems.

Colonel Petrucci was the lead planner for Operation BURNT FROST, the shoot-down of USA-193 satellite, planned and executed space operations in six Air Operations Centers around the world, and developed and authored numerous space and cyber tactics in use around the world today.

Prior to her assignment to the Pentagon, she was the founding squadron commander of the 614 Combat Training Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Colonel Petrucci is a master space operator and a graduate of the USAF Weapons School, the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, and a distinguished graduate of the Eisenhower School of National Security and Resource Strategy.

Colonel Nicole Petrucci is the daughter of Thomas and Carol Petrucci of Madera.