NAVAIR

Capt. Michelle Guidry assumed command of PMA-207 on June 24, 2010.  Guidry’s previous assignment was the Chief of Staff, Program Executive Officer for Tactical Aircraft (PEO-T).

Guidry is a native of Louisiana. She graduated from Auburn University (1988) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering.

Upon commissioning, Guidry was assigned to the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command as a Test and Evaluation Manager. She worked on various satellite communications programs including the Ultra High Frequency Follow-On (UFO) satellite, Fleet Satellite Communications System (FLTSAT), and Navy’s Leased Satellite System (LEASAT).

Guidry was selected for the Navy flight program in 1991. After earning her Navy “Wings of Gold” in 1993, she was assigned to the USS Forrestal (CV 59) as the Fuels Officer awaiting revision of the combat exclusion law. She returned to the training command in Meridian, Miss., as a flight instructor in the TA-4J Skyhawk. Later that year she proceeded to California for training in the S-3B Viking. She deployed with Sea Control Squadron (VS) 35, the “Blue Wolves” onboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in 1996 to the Persian Gulf.

In 1997, Guidry was selected for the U. S. Naval Test Pilot School/Naval Postgraduate School Cooperative Program. Upon completion of the program (1999), she was designated an Engineering Test Pilot and received a Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering.

Assigned to the Naval Force Aircraft Test Squadron (NFATS), Guidry served as a Project Officer/Project Test Pilot on numerous S-3B Viking projects including Digital Flight Data Computer (DFDC), Carrier Aircraft Inertial Navigation System II (CAINS II) and DFDC Integration/Evaluation, Boeing 767 Wake Survey, Ground Proximity Warning System, and USAF MC-130H Hose Reel Response. She was designated as the Commercial Derivative Aircraft Platform Coordinator where she oversaw testing for the C-40A, C-9, C-12, RC-26, C-37 and T-44. In 2001, she was selected as the NFATS Test Pilot of the Year.

Guidry’s next assignment was to NAVAIR 4.1 (Systems Engineering) in support of PMA-201 Conventional Strike Weapons as the lead engineer for the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and In-Service weapons. As the class desk Officer, Guidry contributed to the successful integration of JDAM on numerous platforms, and provided technical management and engineering support for over 35 In-Service commodities and nine new commodities.

Her next assignment was to PMA-205 Naval Aviation Training Systems where she was the Assistant Program Manager for Training Systems for PMA-273 Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems. She managed the ground base training systems for TH-57, T-34, T-44, T-45, T-6, TC-12, and the Undergraduate Military Flight Officer program.

Guidry volunteered for an Individual Augmentation billet to Baghdad, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She served as the Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device (RCIED) Electronic Warfare (CREW) Director of Engineering at Joint CREW Composite Squadron (JCCS) 1. Her responsibilities included in-theater and CONUS engineering efforts to ensure compatibility, interoperability and counter targeting optimization of all CREW systems.

Guidry has accumulated more than 1,600 hours in 31 aircraft types and more than 150 carrier arrested landings.