Cesar A. "Rico" Rodriguez was a United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 pilot from 1981 to 2006. His three air-to-air combat victories brought him closer to becoming an air ace than any American pilot since the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

. Rodriguez scored his first two kills in 1991, during the first Gulf War

Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

, against a MiG-29 and a MiG-23 of the Iraqi Air Force

Iraqi Air Force

The Iraqi Air Force or IQAF is the military branch in Iraq responsible for the policing of international borders, surveillance of national assets and aerial operations...

. His third kill came against a MiG-29 of the Yugoslavian Air Force during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia

1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia

The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia was NATO's military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The strikes lasted from March 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999...

.

Gulf War

In the Gulf War, Rodriguez scored the first two air-air direct hits of his Air Force career. The first hit occurred when he and his wingman Craig "Mole" Underhill came across two Iraqi MiG-29s. The quickly locked up the two MiGs, which turned east to avoid them. However, an AWACS then reported two more MiG-29s coming in at them from the west a mere 13 miles away. The two F-15s and two MiG-29s charged straight at each other. Rodriguez's wingman quickly took out the lead MiG, however, the second MiG, piloted by Captain Jameel Sayhood

Jameel Sayhood

Captain Jameel Sayhood was an Iraqi pilot in the Gulf War who it is claimed managed to attain one of the few aerial victories by the Iraqi Air Force in his MiG-29B, before being shot down by USAF Captain Craig Underhill and Captain Cesar Rodriguez with their F-15Cs mere minutes after his air-air...

, managed to lock up Rodriguez, who quickly executed a dive down to the deck to avoid the radar lock. After seeing his wingman killed, Sayhood decided to bug out briefly. Rodriguez rejoined with Underhill until Sayhood reappeared. Underhill locked him up, though his computer wouldn't let him fire the AIM-9 missile to destroy the MiG because of a glitch in his IFF which told him that the MiG was a friendly aircraft. Rodriguez and Sayhood then proceeded to merge, whereupon they both turned left and promptly got into a turning war. As they descended towards the ground, Sayhood attempted to execute a split-s maneuver. However he crashed into the ground. Rodriguez was credited with a maneuvering kill.

His second kill came as he was flying in formation with three other pilots, Captain Rory Draeger with his wingman Captain Tony "Kimo" Schiavi, and Rodriguez with his wingman Captain Bruce Till. An AWACS picked up four Iraqi MiG-23s taking off from the airfield designated H2. The four F-15s turned ninety degrees, and spread out over a space of ten miles to maximize their radar and missile coverage. One of the four MiGs bugged out with mechanical difficulties. Draeger assigns the targets, he will take the lead MiG, while Schiavi takes the northern one, while Rodriguez was assigned the southern MiG. The three of them locked up the MiGs and all fired AIM-7 radar missiles at the MiGs. All three were destroyed within seconds of each other to for a "textbook" beyond visual range dogfight. The moment of the missiles impact in the MiG-23 was caught in the cockpit camera of that MiG, which was later recovered by a special forces team.

Yugoslav War

During the Yugoslav War, Rodriguez was stationed there for the campaign against the Serbs. On the first night of the campaign, March 24, 1999, several Yugoslavian MiG-29s rose up to resist the air attacks. Two MiGs took off on the opening night from Nis Air Force Base in Yugoslavia. The first was damaged from a missile strike from a Dutch F-16 fighter, whilst the second flown by Yugoslav Major Ilijo Arizanov was engaged and shot down by Rodriguez in his F-15. The MiG-29s of the Yugoslavia Air Force were very old and suffering severe problems with their systems. Major Ilijo was having trouble getting his radar working when he was shot down by Rodriguez. This would be Rodriguez's final kill, making him the highest ranking pilot in terms of kills in the US since the Vietnam War, two short of "Ace" status.

After war

After the wars, Rodriguez continued to serve with the US Air Force until November 30, 2006, when he retired with the rank of Colonel and the nickname "Last American Ace".

Aerial victory credits

Date	|Type	|Aircraft flown	Iraq Iraq Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....	F-15C	33 FW, 58 TFS
January 26, 1991	1	MiG-23	Iraq Iraq Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....	F-15C	33 FW, 58 TFS
March 24, 1999	1	MiG-29	Yugoslavia Yugoslavia Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....	F-15C	33 FW, 58 TFS