Biography

Vincent Petrarca was born in 1945, in Providence RI. He attended Bishop Hendricken High School and was on the All-State Football Team in 1962. He then attended URI, and graduated with the class of 1967. While at URI, he was in ROTC and in Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. He played football on a full 4-year scholarship.

After graduation, he enlisted in the Air Force in 1967 and completed Officer Training School, Navigator Training, and Air Re-Fueling Training. He was then assigned to Strategic Air Command 70th Air Refueling Squadron at Little Rock AFB where he flew the KC-135 in support of the SR-71 Program out of Beale AFB California.

In 1970, the 70th Air Refueling Squadron was moved to Grissom AFB Indiana still under SAC and supporting B-58 and FB 111 Aircraft. At Grissom, the squadron had rotating deployments to Kadena AFB Okinawa and Utapao AFB Thailand. He deployed, refueling B-52, F-105 and F-4 aircraft flying reconnaissance and bombing missions to Cambodia, Laos, North & South Vietnam. He also flew in support of search & rescue missions for downed airmen in South Vietnam logging 77 combat hours.

In 1971 he transferred to the 3rd Airborne Command and Control Squadron, flying EC-135 aircraft out of Grissom AFB, supporting the Worldwide Flying Command Post, Offutt AFB Nebraska with Radio Relay Missions over selected areas in the US that maintained radio contact around the world. Vincent was honorably discharged in 1973 with the rank of Captain and joined the 143rd Rhode Island Air National Guard in 1974. Initially flying the C-119, in 1975 as part of a general program to upgrade the country’s Air National Guard. The Unit was then redesignated as a Tactical Airlift Group and assigned the C-130A Hercules aircraft. With the Guard, Vincent supported missions in all parts of the United States, Europe, Africa, and especially South America and the Caribbean. He rotated with various Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve C-130 units to Panama on short tours of active duty to meet the theater airlift requirements of the United States Southern Command. In 1990, he was among the first Guard units to support Operation Desert Storm stationed at RAF Mildenhall. During the Gulf War, LtCol Petrarca was assigned as Squadron Commander. Lt Col Petrarca retired from the Rhode Island National Guard in 1993. His military awards include the Air Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, among other US and foreign decorations.

Vincent’s civilian career included work for the RI Attorney General’s Office in the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Diversion Unit, and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections where he ran educational and vocational programs, coordinating programs and volunteers working with incarcerated youth at the Rhode Island Training School. In 1982, he was hired by Salve Regina University as a Lecturer and Academic and Career Advisor in the Criminal Justice Program. In 1996, the Superintendent of the Rhode Island Training School offered him a position to establish a post-Secondary curriculum of educational & vocational programs for the residents, which he served until 2006.

Vincent retired as the Interim Graduate Director of the Administration of Justice Department at Salve Regina University. In this role he is responsible for scheduling classes and coordinating the activities of the Administration of Justice Graduate Studies Programs. In this capacity, he always made himself available to ROTC cadets at Salve Regina.

Vincent’s athletic volunteer activity included assistant Varsity Football Coach at Smithfield High School from 1974 to 1981, and assistant Varsity Football Coach at Salve Regina University from 1991 to 1999. He was inducted into the Bishop Hendricken Hall of Fame, and the Providence Gridiron Club Hall of Fame. Vincent made a significant contribution to the URI Meade Field renovation.

He has four children: daughters Ali and Katy and sons Christian and Dominic; and 5 grandchildren: Benjamin, who was Cadet Colonel in 2021, Maverick, Phoenix, Olive, and Scarlet.