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| Then-Captain Cesar "Rico" Rodriguez of the 58th TFS, the Gorillas, during Operation Desert Storm. He ended his career with three kills, making him the highest-scoring US pilot in recent history. (Source) |
I did a bit of research, the good colonel was an Eagle driver (did you know him juvat?) who served from 1981 to 2006, which makes him a contemporary of mine. (We also went from the same outfit then to the same outfit now, small world.)
His bio over at Veteran Tributes has the citation for his third Distinguished Flying Cross (with "V" for Valor) -
Lieutenant Colonel Cesar A. Rodriguez, Jr., distinguished himself by heroism while participating in aerial flight at or near the Former Republic of Yugoslavia near Pristina, Kosovo, the first night of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's air campaign, Operation ALLIED FORCE, on 24 March 1999. On that date, as Deputy Mission Commander of an Offensive Counter Air sorties, Colonel Rodriguez escorted the lead flight of 25 combat aircraft in the first strike against the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, striking targets near Podgorica. Informed of an airborne contact, Colonel Rodriguez immediately placed his element between the threat and the strike package. The bogey, a MIG-29, made a sudden turn and headed directly towards Colonel Rodriguez placing him in mortal danger from its long rang radar missiles. Colonel Rodriguez employed a single air-to-air missile and observed the fireball of the exploding MIG. His actions directly ensured the safe return of all allied aircraft that night. The outstanding heroism and selfless devotion to duty displayed by Colonel Rodriguez reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.At that time the aircraft I supported, the E-3A AWACS, were very busy in that neck of the woods. I wonder if it was a NATO bird which informed LtCol Rodriguez of the airborne contact. Could well be...
I had no idea that we had pilots with multiple airborne kills post-Vietnam. A very excellent article over at The Atlantic (you really should read the whole thing) has this in the opening of its story of Colonel Rodriguez's feats -
Damn!OVER CESAR RODRIGUEZ’S desk hangs a macabre souvenir of his decades as a fighter pilot. It is a large framed picture, a panoramic cockpit view of open sky and desert. A small F‑15 Eagle is visible in the distance, but larger and more immediate, filling the center of the shot, staring right at the viewer, is an incoming missile.It is a startling picture, memorializing a moment of air-to-air combat from January 19, 1991, over Iraq. Air-to-air combat has become exceedingly rare. Even when it happens, modern fighter pilots are rarely close enough to actually see the person they are shooting at. This image recalls a kill registered by Rodriguez, who goes by Rico, and his wingman, Craig Underhill, known as Mole, during the Gulf War.A special-operations team combed the Iraqi MiG’s crash site, and this was one of the items salvaged, the last millisecond of incoming data from the doomed Iraqi pilot’s HUD, or head-up display. It was the final splash of light on his retinas, probably arriving too late for his brain to process before being vaporized with the rest of his corporeal frame. Pilots like Rodriguez don’t romanticize such exploits. These are strictly matter-of-fact men from a world where war is work, and life and death hang on a rapidly and precisely calibrated reality, an attitude captured by the flat caption mounted on the frame: THIS IS AN AIM-7 AIR-TO-AIR MISSILE SHOT FROM AN F‑15 EAGLE DETONATING ON AN IRAQI MIG‑29 FULCRUM DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM. (Source)
I have to say, I'm awfully proud to work alongside men and women like Colonel Rodriguez: Air Force, Navy, Marines, Army, Coast Guard - still doing their bit to keep America safe. (Though the pay is quite a bit better than when we wore the uniform!)
Sources:
Takes a special person to be able to function in the missile environment of today, having to deal with air-to-air as well as surface-to-air threats. My thanks to Colonel Rodriguez and all the pilots who strap on a helmet and climb into a cockpit for this country. Well now look, more links, and as said by Mr. Sulu......"Oh My!" Good choices there Sarge.
ReplyDeleteI should thank corporate for giving me the idea!
DeleteI know of him, obviously. But given career dates, he probably went through Holloman when I was there. Ive got a vague recollection of a Rico, may or may not be him
ReplyDeleteTerry Fornof, mentioned in the Atlantic Article was one of my fellow IPs at Holloman. His father Corky was the guy flying the BD-5J in that opening scene in the James Bond flick were it flew through the hangar. Good stick...both of them.
Deletejuvat #1 - Given the dates, I had to ask.
Deletejuvat #2 - I thought the name sounded familiar. Great scene that, sweet little jet.
DeleteHey Old AFSarge;
ReplyDeleteI read that article from the Atlantic, actually a pretty good article overall, it explained the fighter environment pretty good.
I liked it too.
DeleteDid not know that the post-Vietnam air warfare environment (was that DODish enough, or do I need to verbalize more?) was heavy enough in actual threats to allow an ace to be made. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, the aerial environment is so small the Venn diagrams of life show overlap amongst you gentlemen.
As to the painting, it must really suck to be sitting in a fast mover, a veritable demi-god of destruction, and hear that threat-warning go off and realize you have X seconds to detect and avoid an incoming missile.
Guns seem so much more... noble.
But, well, there's nothing noble about modern warfare. Or any warfare.
Well, three kills isn't technically an ace, but probably as close as we'll get for now. Hopefully, it stays that way.
DeleteI think five victories was a French thing initially, the Germans didn't make much of a big deal over a pilot's prowess until he had shot down ten. As for the British, they didn't make any deal over it until they noted the propaganda and morale value of celebrating their pilots. Their early attitude was "just fight the war and kill Germans, we're not keeping score in the trenches why do it in the air."
Each generation bemoans the loss of the "old ways." Sword combat was deemed more noble than firearms, we remember times that never were, we seem to look down on the new. Until it too is old.
Well....To be fair. An 8 inch dot coming directly at you with a closing velocity of Mach-5 (Mach 4 for the missile and assuming the Fulcrum was smart and traveling at least Mach 1) or 5582.19 Feet per Second, The Iraqi Pilot didn't have a lot of time to get all tensed up.
DeleteNot even enough time for an "Aw, shit..."
DeleteFor a significant portion of WWI, for Britain, it was all about the number of hours over the line of battle. Early on, that line was actually half way between the two groundlines. So intercepting a Jerry over allied territory didn't count for hours. Later on, the arbitrary line was moved westwardly to cover both lines and the area where most aerial activity would occur.
DeleteThen, later still, they discovered 'Ace' as propaganda, but hours still counted for the military aspects.
Hours, when the average life expectancy wasn't an hour. Survive your first hour and you'd survive to 10ish. Survive 10ish and you'd probably survive to 50ish, according to the percentages.
Don't forget, the prevailing wind pushed them east, over German-occupied territory.
DeleteI didn’t see the HUD photo in the Atlantic article, so here it is:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/images/issues/200903/200/bowden_f22_003_200.jpg
(Not great quality, but couldn’t find better)
Nice job tracking that down a bear!
DeleteYa.... a bear, thanks for the work on that image, talk about looking into Hell.
DeleteWell...eternity for certain.
DeleteSome F-14's splashed a couple of Fitters when I was a component of the Gulf of Sidra Yacht Club back mid-80's but these guys tend not to want to come up, play and end up as a painted icon on a fuselage. I hadn't heard about Rico. Great story of a brave and skillful pilot.
ReplyDeleteI went TDY from the Pentagon with one of the WSO's on that sortie. Interesting talks. Adult Recreational Beverages were consumed.
DeleteLL - I was a young Staff Sergeant in Korea when the Gulf of Sidra thing went down (along with two MiGs). Being in Korea we were more concerned with keeping an eye on the NORKS. But more than a few toasts were raised to the Navy after that one.
DeleteTwo aerial warriors drinking adult beverages?
DeleteYeah, we expect nothing less, strong drink for the warrior is a given.
Rico looks pretty suave with that mustache!
ReplyDeleteI almost went with that as the title. Then though better of it. After all Colonel Rodriguez is still way above me on the org chart, respect, etc., etc. 😉
DeleteI'd heard the story, somewhere, but forgotten. Quite a thing. Thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteOne of those stories I hadn't heard, a good one.
DeletePretty darned cool post Sarge. Impossible to tell the future of course, but if the past is any predictor of more rather than less likely future events, there's a good chance that there will be more aces. And as the biggest "Gorillas" on the block, we're simply not guaranteed to always be the victors just cause.
ReplyDeleteSo true, the future is a scary place given certain scenarios.
Delete