1

archived as http://www.stealthskater.com/Documents/Eagle_01.doc

(also …Eagle_01.pdf) => doc pdf URL-doc URL-pdf

more Military topics are on the /Military.htm page at doc pdf URL

note: because important websites are frequently "here today but gone tomorrow", the following was

archived from https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/35765/confessions-of-an-f-15-eagle-

driver-with-three-mig-kills on August 19, 2020. This is NOT an attempt to divert readers from

the aforementioned website. Indeed, the reader should only read this back-up copy if it cannot

be found at the original author's site.

note: if any <links> below have expired, you can try using the Internet Archives

"Wayback Machine" at http://www.archive.org

F-15 Eagle Pilot Explains Exactly How He

Downed 3 Migs During 2 Wars Cesar “Rico” Rodriguez gives a remarkable account of how he brought down

three enemy fighters, two during Desert Storm and one during Allied Force.

By Jamie Hunter / The WarZone , August 18, 2020

Rodriguez straps into F-15C 85-0114 at Tabuk with his first MiG-29 "kill" already painted under his name.

Retired U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagle pilot Colonel Cesar “Rico” Rodriguez has an incredible story to

tell. In his 26-year service career, he played important roles in 2 major air wars. Remarkably, it's

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almost 30 years since “Rico” (who still goes by his Air Force callsign) first sat in the cockpit of his

McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle ready to go to war on a sweltering night in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Operation Desert Storm was the first chapter in his incredible story. “Rico” and his fellow Eagle

“drivers” etched one of the most fearsome reputations in combat aviation as an invincible band of lethal

airborne enemy aircraft slayers. Of the 32 air-to-air kills by Eagles of that war, two were his.

He was part of the 58th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) and strapped to his jet were 4 live AIM-7M

Sparrow radar-guided air-to-air missiles and 4 shorter-range AIM-9M Sidewinders. 8 years later, he

would fly another fully armed F-15 into combat (this time with new weapons and upgraded systems) in

the skies over Kosovo as part of Operation Allied Force. Here he would notch up his third kill.

Today, he recounts his extraordinary experiences in the cockpit of the Eagle to help new recruits

understand the importance of training and striving for excellence. It was what prepared him when he

went into combat at very short notice. Rodriguez and his fellow Eagle pilots knew instinctively what to

do. A fact that he emphasized in his exclusive interview with The WarZone.

[StealthSkater note: this story emphasizes the immense value of pilot training and experience]

The path to the Eagle cockpit

Speaking from his office in Tucson, Arizona, “Rico” tells us how he always dreamed of flying F-15

Eagles. But that he was still honored to initially be awarded a place on a Basic Course learning how to

fly the A-10 Thunderbolt II.

“I got to fly some very complex and demanding missions as an A-10 pilot in Korea for 2 years. I

had almost 900 hours of “Hog” flying in that time. Which is pretty amazing.”

When he subsequently went back to Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico as an instructor for

lead-in fighter training, he did so with an eye on the prize of an F-15 cockpit.

“I started to add more air-to-air backseat rides in the T-38 during CT (Continuation Training) with

former F-15 pilots. We could fly against F-15s from the squadron across the street at Holloman. It

really helped me to build my three-dimensional situational awareness picture of the air-to-air mission

using my eyes and ears. It helped me immensely when I eventually got selected to go to Tyndall [Air

Force Base, Florida] to start a short F-15 transition course.”

“The F-15C is a very complex weapons system. I was able to employ the training I’d already

established, but now as a young F-15 pilot," he continued. "When you start to apply the intricacies of

HOTAS [Hands-On Throttle And Stick] controls and the physical demands of flying a jet without a G

limiter. Plus adding the visual feed of the radar and the audio lead of the radar warning receiver. Then

you can start understanding how to max-perform the Eagle.”

3

an F-15C pilot eases back from a tanker during a mission in the Middle East.

“Rico” completed Eagle school and joined the 58th TFS (the “Gorillas”) at Eglin Air Force Base,

Florida in 1989. He then began working through his Mission Qualification Training. This is the process

junior pilots must work through on an operational unit to progress from being a wingman ... through

two-ship lead, four-ship lead ... and ultimately become a mission commander.

“Little-by-little I started to feel more comfortable in the jet,” he says.

When “Rico” arrived at the 58th TFS, the squadron commander Lieutenant Colonel Francis “Paco”

Geisler had assembled an impressive team that was stacked with weapons officers and a huge amount of

collective experience. “We had a very strong squadron both in terms of hours and capability. It

included Captains John 'JB' Kelk, Rick 'Kluso' Tollini, and Robert 'Cheese' Graeter. The mindset was

that we were going to be the Baddest Guys In The Air. It was never a cakewalk.”

In the summer of 1990, Rodriguez led a detachment to Gulfport, Mississippi in support of some

Missouri Air National Guard F-4E Phantom IIs that were on their squadron’s “fini” deployment before

transitioning to the Eagle.

“We had eight jets and a full maintenance contingent there for a week. It was the final day and we

did an 8-v-16 air-to-air mission. It was their take on World War III! We did everything to give them a

chance to see what the F-15 could do. That last day was full-up beyond visual range. All the handcuffs

were off!”

“When we landed, we had planned one heck of a party. But the crew chiefs came over to my jet and

said they’d received word from Eglin that we weren’t to party. As a matter of fact, we had to pack our

bags and get back home that evening.”

“They put the tanks back on the jets and we left for Eglin taking off into the approaching sunset.”

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“We all flew straight-in approaches. As I rolled down the runway, I looked right and could see huge

activity all over our flight line. I’d never seen it so alive in my life! It was wall-to-wall F-15s armed

with live AIM-7 Sparrows and AIM-9M Sidewinders.”

“Once we got to the squadron building, we were told that we’d been put on deployment orders. The

CO said: 'We don’t have a date yet. But go home and put yourselves into crew rest.' ”

A pair of 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing F-15Cs fly with a Royal Saudi Air Force F-5E during Operation

Desert Shield.

On Aug. 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Kuwait. U.S. President George H. W. Bush

ordered ground, sea, and air forces to Southwest Asia to stabilize the region and persuade Saddam to

withdraw his invasion force. For “Rico” and the rest of the 58th TFS, it was a tense time.

“We sat tight and did a lot of mission study plus briefings relative to the Iraqi air order of battle and

GBAD [Ground-Based Air Defenses]. We were tweaking our tactics based on the threat intel we had.”

“Paco” Geisler had turned the “Gorillas” over to Lieutenant Colonel William “Tonic” Thiel. But not

before he’d assembled a team that was fully prepared and ready to go to war.

Heading to Saudi Arabia

Thiel was notified shortly after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait that his squadron was tasked to deploy

and he was ready to send 769 personnel and 24 F-15C Eagles. “Rico” picks up the story ...

"They informed us there would be two Eagle squadrons deploying. Us and F-15s from Langley [Air

Force Base, Virginia]. When we planned the deployment, a big hurricane was building in the Atlantic

Ocean which meant the northern route around Greenland and the United Kingdom was out for us. So

they built a huge tanker bridge literally right around the Equator so that we could go the long way to

Saudi Arabia. There were several spots on that bridge where if we couldn't take gas from the tanker, the

only option was to bail-out near a boat in the Atlantic.”

5

"A lot of that Atlantic crossing involved flying in bad weather. As we hit the eastern Atlantic, we

refueled over the Strait of Gibraltar, staring straight at the rising sun. Our last tanker bracket was over

Egypt. And from there, we headed into Saudi Arabia.

An F-15C pilot from the 58th Tactical Fighter Squadron inspects an AIM-9M missile prior to launching

from Eglin AFB at the start of Operation Desert Shield.

"It was late August and really hot when we landed. From the time I strapped into the jet at Eglin

until I got out in Tabuk, it was about 22 hours. It was one of those days that never ended. People had to

be literally craned out of the cockpits.

"We put birds on alert within 48 hours of arriving and were manning alert CAPs [Combat Air

Patrols] and undertaking a couple of ATOs [Air Tasking Orders]. Initially, it wasn’t 24/7 CAPs. We

flew when some kind of high-value asset was in the air. It took a little while before we set up round-the-

clock ops around the AOR [Area Of Responsibility].

"We saw the Iraqis launch MiG-25 Foxbats. They were our main concern in the Desert Shield phase

ahead of the main Operation Desert Storm. They executed their launch profiles really nicely. If we

didn’t exercise “Grinder” tactics properly, we wouldn't be at the right altitude to take a shot at them. We

might need to turn before the Iraqi border.

" 'Grinder' involved us having one group of F-15s “hot” [i.e., radar pointing at the target] and one

group “cold” [i.e., flying away from the target]. We had to grind ourselves back far enough with enough

distance so that when it looked there was a true commit from them across the border, we could jettison

our tanks and climb into the high 50s [nearly 60,000 feet] and have a high enough Mach number to

launch our AIM-7s. It took time for us to talk to the E-3 AWACS to help us get to the right shoot box

should the opportunity present itself.

"Flying as 2-ships and 4-ships presented one of the true lessons of Desert Storm. Pairing up your

teams. It was a myth that we had more than enough pilots. We didn’t. But we needed experience in the

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teams. By pairing us up in combat, it gave us the flexibility to fly whatever schedule was given to us.

Once the war kicked off, all the wingmen were at least 2-ship flight lead so they could become number 3

if required.

An F-15C down low over the desert carrying live AIM-7 Sparrows and AIM-9M Sidewinders.

"Only on one occasion did we break up our pairs. The 4-ship meant we could fly any mission —

Offensive Counter Air [OCA] and Defensive Counter Air [DCA]. And if we were on the ground; one

could act as the SOF [Supervisor Of Flying], one could sit “Top Three” on the ops desk; and the other

two could help with the mission planning cell."

Eagles into the storm

At midnight on Jan. 17, 1991, the assembled Eagles both at Tabuk and the jets from Langley at

Dhahran, Saudi Arabia joined forces on the first night of Operation Desert Storm with a surprise attack

over Baghdad. Their mission was to clear the skies of Iraqi fighters over the capital and open a "lane"

for the strike force.

The first wave of missions saw Captain “JB” Kelk from the “Gorillas” claim the first aerial “kill” of

the war for the Eglin Eagles downing a MiG-29 Fulcrum with an AIM-7 Sparrow. That same night,

Captain Rhory “Hoser” Draeger and U.S. Marine Corps exchange officer Captain Charles “Sly” Magill

took out a pair of MiG-29s near Baghdad before Captain “Cheese” Graeter then claimed two Dassault

Mirage F1s.

“Rico” takes up the story ...

7

F-15Cs from the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing deployed to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

“I flew the very last mission of Desert Shield before we moved into Desert Storm. We got a couple

of hours of sleep and came in to fly a couple of DCA missions on Day One. On Jan. 19, again I was on

DCA in the western sector [flying F-15C 85-0114] protecting the high-value assets in what was known

as HVACAP. But then me and my wingman Captain Craig “Mole” Underhill were switched to OCA.

A strike package was supposed to be supported by the Langleys. But they had to weather-cancel.

So they scrambled F-15s from Tabuk to be the OCA 4-ship led by Rick Tollini. The mission

commander said to leave a 2-ship DCA in the CAP and take 2 DCA birds forward to become the post-

strike OCA for the strike package. “Mole” and I went to the tanker, got on the frequency with Rick, and

his 4-ship for the final briefing from the mission commander. It was a push.

"We were on the tanker still pressing north when Tollini and his flight engaged a variety of threats.

They ended up getting 2 “kills” in the early stage of the push. They ended up jettisoning their external

fuel tanks which meant that they no longer had enough gas to get to the target area and then come home.

So the mission commander committed the group forward with “Mole” and I at the tail-end to climb up

and start building a radar picture in front of the strike package (taking the role of lead OCA).

"As we built that radar picture, we had one unknown contact extremely far in the north and west.

Then eventually we developed a second contact northeast and east which was the closest to us and

originated out of the Baghdad area. As we were proceeding forward on track, we handed over the

western contacts to our AWACS controller to monitor. We were going to put our radars into the eastern

group. As we started to commit on that group, elements of our strike package were starting to hit their

targets. The eastern group came at us in what we call a Res [resolution] Cell meaning that we couldn’t

break them out at the long-range with our radar.

"Eventually, we could see it was a 2-ship slightly echelon formation to the north-northwest. As we

got close, they went from close to a tactical formation. Then low and behold, they executed the tactic

that all of our Red Flag exercise debriefs had told us about.

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"There were known "blind zones" in our mechanically-scanned radar. These guys went into the

notch at exactly the right range. So we lost our locks on them for a while. As they started to “drag”

[i.e., give the impression they were leaving the engagement], we picked them up again.

"We were now inside the Sparrow WEZ [Weapon Engagement Zone]. But if we were going to take

a shot, we were going to have to follow them for a long time to support guidance of the missile. The

MiGs went into a “beam” maneuver [i.e., perpendicular to our track] and held it for what felt like 15

secs. Then they turned and “dragged” again. They weren’t in afterburner and we were coming out of

high altitude. So we could have easily run them down. Meanwhile, the last striker called “Millertime,”

meaning he was going to drop. So OCA was technically no longer required.

An F-15C drops away from the tanker during a Combat Air Patrol during Desert Storm.

9

"Just as I was about to call for “Mole” and I to abort, we got a radio call from the AWACS who said:

'Citgo, pop-up contacts 330 for 8.' That was the bearing and range off of my jet which put them in the

9-9:30 clock position for me. It was outside my radar field-of-view. So I snapped to heading 330. I

don’t remember reaching down and jettisoning my fuel tanks. But I did.

"As I turned, my jet was immediately enveloped in vapor around the wings. “Mole” saw this and

my fuel tanks flying off and initially thought that I’d been hit. I rolled out on 330 with my auto guns

system on and boom! I got a lock right at 8 miles.

"Very quickly, I started to do an identification “matrix” on the threat [to find out what it was].

However, I immediately knew that this was not going to be valid because we had Rules of Engagement

[ROE] that required anything inside of 10 miles to be visually identified.

"The rules were written like this due to our ability with the radar in certain scenarios to “see” the

stealth F-117 Nighthawk. In hindsight, the way you write that is when you are operating with an F-117

or at night in conjunction with an F-117, if you have a lock inside of 10 miles you have to identify it.

"It was re-written the next day.

"Even when the fighter gave me a hostile lock, it still wasn't sufficient grounds to take a shot based

on the ROE. I started thinking defensively, talking to “Mole” to get him to do his “matrix”. He was

outside of 10 miles and could therefore meet the full intent. Plus he had augmentation from an RC-135

Rivet Joint electronic warfare aircraft which helped him out. I came out of 30,000 feet, rolled the

airplane inverted, and pointed my nose at the ground, dispensing chaff to decoy the threat away me. My

main aim was to get below his radar field of view and into the ground clutter.

"As I passed through 5,000 feet, I became concerned about hitting the ground. So I leveled off under

1,000 feet. I could see his lock on my RWR. [I found out later that between the Rivet Joint and my

electronic warfare that his radar was being jammed appropriately and as a result he couldn't employ any

of his weapons against me]. When “Mole” finished up and got confirmation of the target being hostile,

he took a shot.

Iraqi AirForce MiG-29 Fulcrum: It is believed that Iraq purchased 32 MiG-29 9.12B and 4 MiG-

29 9.51 in 2 batches in 1987/88. These were operated by 6th SQ Al Habbaniyah and 39th SQ Al

Asad. Around 12 IrAF MiG-29 survived OP DS 1991 and were operated until 2003.

"I looked over my left shoulder and saw his Sparrow come off the jet and pull towards my high 6

o’clock. It stopped burning and I was straining to see the target. The smoke trail from his missile was a

bit like a pointer. I took the trailing edge and followed it. There I found the MiG-29 about 3 miles off

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my right wing. “Mole’s” missile hit him smack in his face and it turned the aircraft into what looked

like a huge sparkler in the sky under the high noon sun. I called “Splash One.

"And as I did, the AWACS came back: 'Second group north 10.' ”

We had a couple of options. The AWACS was notoriously about 3 miles off in their range

estimations. So it could have been 13 miles or 7 miles. We could have turned south and never seen the

contact. But we decided to turn north. “Mole” was up in the high 20s and I was down very low. We

would force the fighter to commit to one of us. As it turned out, he didn’t lock either of us. On seeing

him, it allowed me to do a vertical lead turn on him from low-to-high to visually confirm him as hostile.

"There were times it looked like an F-15. And times when it looked like an F/A-18. It wasn't until I

passed about 50 feet off of his left wing that I was able to confirm it was a brown&green MiG-29 with

the Iraqi flag on the fins. I started to gain some angles on him and the dogfight ensued.

"First merge, I had angles on him. The next time at the 180-degree point of the circle, I’d gained 90

degrees of angles on him. But I didn’t have a clear shot.

"The engagement started at 8,000 feet and it was coming downhill fast. By the time I got my closure

rate under control on the outside of the circle, I was then coming back to the inside to get a sweet shot.

He was at about 400 feet and I was 600-700 feet above the desert.

"I pulled to the inside of the circle to put my ASE [Aeronautic Steering Engagement] on him. That’s

the aiming section for the AIM-7. There’s a 'dot' in the HUD [Head-Up Display]. If you put the dot

inside the ASE, you had a valid shot. I was still about 1,400 feet behind the MiG. But I wasn't thinking

about using the gun. He suddenly rolled inverted from 300 feet and started a Split-S maneuver. And of

course, that wasn't going to work for him. He hit the desert floor and ended up tumbling in a big

fireball.

This Iraqi MiG-29 was destroyed on the ground during Operation Desert Storm.

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"I got back together with “Mole” and we headed back to the tanker. Unbeknown to me, when my

body reaches a level of adrenaline in a life-and-death situation, I go into a severe series of tremors and

shakes. So when we came out of this fight and got on the tanker to get some gas, I thought it was time

to start relaxing. I suddenly started to feel significant vibrations. At first, I thought it was something

wrong with the jet. I let go of the stick and grabbed the towel racks [i.e., hand grab rails on the canopy

arch] and the jet leveled off and all was fine. It felt like forever. But it was probably only a minute-or-

so of serious convulsions going through my body. I didn’t think anything of it and certainly didn’t tell

the flight doctor!

"As we were coming home, I said to “Mole” that I thought it was the right time to do a low

approach, kick in the burners, and do an aileron roll. As it turned out, we got a pretty good ass-chewing

from our wing commander for that hot-dogging. Back on the flight line, I remember my crew chief

wondering how I had managed to get a “kill” with all my missiles still on the jet!

"We debriefed as a pair with the Intel team and the mission planning cell for the report that went to

CENTCOM [U.S. Central Command]. We were back flying the very next day. Celebration wasn’t

really part of the calculation. We didn’t really see each other from the other four-ships. After “JB” and

“Cheese” got their “kills” on night-one, I don’t remember seeing them for almost a week. We used to

say we operated on “leadership by sticky notes”. That’s how any congratulations were communicated.

Via a note stuck to our flight gear in life support.”

Second "kill"

Over the next few days, “Rico” and his associated 4-ship flew a mixture of planned and alert

scramble missions. He takes up the story ...

“Typically we were flying 2-or-3 times a day. If you were on alert, you tried to get a little sleep.

Generally, the flow was to get between 4-to-6 hours of sleep in between each working day. On Jan. 26,

I was flying “114” again. On that day it was really only the F-15Cs and the high-value assets like the

AWACS that were up. The weather was terrible. That day was the first time I’d changed my wingman.

Our formation was led by Captain Rhory Draeger with Captain Tony “Kimo” Schiavi, myself as number

three, and my wingman was Captain Bruce “Roto” Till.

"We were way up north of Baghdad when we got a radio call that there was activity in the area of H2

Air Base which was way out to the west. R hory re-formed us in the traditional “Wall-of-Eagles”. We

were very high and I thought we’d never see anything that we’d be able to shoot at. Bt our AN/APG-63

radar had no problem “seeing” through the weather. And we could fire AIM-7s through the clouds as

well.

"About 25 miles from where we’d calculated the merge would take place, we saw a huge sucker hole

in the clouds and could see the ground. We all dived through it and came out at around 15,000 feet. We

continued to dive down to around 10,000 feet while tracking the Iraqi fighters that were flying a very

low level at about 400 knots navigating along a major highway in a Vic formation [i.e., one aircraft

leading, with one on either side in echelon]. As soon as we came through the clouds, I could see

through my target detection (TD) box in the HUD a small dot that little by little built into the silhouette

of a MiG-23 Flogger.

"We “sorted” the target group in F-15 standard procedure. Which means the flight lead takes the

enemy leader, the number two takes the northern contact and I took the southern guy, while the number

four pilot searched around us for any other contacts.

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"We were completing our ID “matrix” when we received information from the AWACS that a U.K.

Special Operations guy out in the desert had earlier visually confirmed three MiG-23s were moving on

the flight line at H2. He’d passed the information to the E-3 crew with the proper authentication. So we

had a human intelligence as well as our own electronic identification. We also found out later via the

special ops guy that one of the MiG pilots was a cousin of Saddam Hussein.

"With the targets confirmed, Rhory took his shot and I saw the missile come off the rail and quickly

accelerate down toward the desert floor . It leveled off at around 50 feet, the same altitude as the MiGs.

“Kimo” fired his Sparrow and then I fired mine. The first missile appeared to pass the lead MiG. But

soon it became apparent that it had flown close enough to do some kind of damage as the jet started

turning and trailing smoke before catching fire. Rhory pulled off to the north and uncaged a Sidewinder

ready to hit him again. As he did, the MiG blew up.

An AIM-7 Sparrow streaks away from an F-15.

"In the meantime, the two Iraqi wingmen checked south and in doing so heated up the intercept with

our missiles. Nearly simultaneously, both missiles hit their respective targets and both MiGs crashed

either side of the highway in 2 huge fireballs.

"I suspect the MiGs never knew we were there until the leader was hit. They had flown a comms-

out launch and were using the road to navigate their way to Baghdad to get fuel before continuing

onwards to Iran where a lot of Iraq’s fighter aircraft had fled.

"This intercept continues to be used in the training environment as what people call “The Classic”.

We used minimum communication. We had near-perfect radar synchronization in the 4-ship for sorting

and targeting the MiGs. People who have heard the cockpit recorder tapes always ask how Rhory and I

remained so calm as we got ready to shoot missiles. I tell them that there’s a certain calmness there

because we’d both been there before. For both Rhory and I, these were our second kills.”

[StealthSkater note: For some reason I had the impression that there were no cockpit recorder

tapes on military planes in a war.]

13

Rodriguez says that as the war progressed, the F-15C’s prowess led to more pilots becoming keen to

put their training into practice and claim more aerial victories. It was what he called “MiG-itis”.

Overall, the 58th TFS claimed 16 aerial victories in Operation Desert Storm, more than any other unit.

With 32 overall “kills,” the F-15C had proved its ability to surgically target and eliminate the enemy

fighters with impunity.

Col Rick Parsons was the commander of the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing during Desert Storm and he

claimed a "kill" on February 7, 1991.

The third "kill" — Operation Allied Force

NATO launched Operation Allied Force in 1999 in response to Serbian President Slobodan

Milosevic's campaign of “ethnic cleansing” of Kosovar Albanians. Although NATO Secretary-General

Javier Solana did not authorize airstrikes against Serbia until Jan. 30, the USAF had already worked up

several potential air campaigns.

When it was finally decided, Allied Force was to be an operation designed to force Milosevic's

withdrawal from Kosovo. With the use of ground troops rejected by NATO, an air campaign was

designed to focus on the Serbian air defense systems and otherwise employ strikes against Serbian

military targets.

The first attacks of the campaign began on the night of Mar. 24, 1999 as aircraft from 13 member

countries including U.S. Air Force B-52s and B-2s launched the initial phase of attacks under what the

U.S. military called Operation Noble Anvil. “Rico” takes up the story ...

14

An F-15C from the 493rd Fighter Squadron takes on fuel at night during Operation Allied Force.

“I was by now a Lieutenant Colonel as the 48th Fighter Wing’s Chief of Safety and flew F-15Cs

with the resident 493rd Fighter Squadron (the “Grim Reapers”). We deployed as the only F-15C

squadron to support the operation. We didn't have the airplanes or the manpower to truly support all the

ATOs [Air Tasking Orders] that were being contemplated for Allied Force. So it was literally a case of

needing to get everyone downrange.

"The wing commander deployed me as Chief of Safety and as a mission commander and 4-ship

flight leader. We took jets from our home base at RAF Lakenheath, U.K. to Cervia Air Base, Italy. We

also had jets deployed to Turkey that we moved a couple of weeks before the war was projected to kick

off to give us a complement of 22 Eagles.

In the latter stages of Desert Storm, the 58th TFS had been the first unit to receive the new AIM-120

Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile [AMRAAM]. It had been on the drawing board and we’d

trained some tactics before the war.

"Compared to the standard of the jets that we flew in Desert Storm, the F-15C had moved on

significantly. Post-Desert Storm, we had worked with industry and requested some upgrades. Now we

all had AMRAAM plus some changes to the cockpit because we found that we were flying some really

long missions. That included things like improving the HOTAS to avoid having to reach around the

cockpit too much. But we still didn’t have a data-link or Night Vision Goggles.

"Once settled in Italy, we started flying Initially in the DCA role. But that eventually evolved into

full-up combat operations. We generally had 3 main areas of operations. One in the north along the

Hungarian border. One in the center abeam the capital Belgrade. And one to the south where all the

atrocities were taking place and where most of the strikers were going. So there we were tasked to

maintain open flight lanes for them.

15

An F-15C from the 493rd Fighter Squadron flies alongside a MiG-29 from the Slovak Air Force.

"Serbian air activity was sporadic. But it indicated to us that we were dealing with a far more

mature threat than we had seen in Iraq especially with the Integrated Air Defense Systems [IADS] that

they were employing. You might be on CAP in an area that you thought didn’t have an IADS. Then all

of a sudden, your RWR would light up like a Christmas tree and you’d have a different Surface-to-Air-

Missile [SAM] indication in every quadrant!

"For the opening night of the campaign, I was in F-15C 86-0169 which we called “The Love

Machine”. As we got to our jets at Cervia, our intelligence officer came out to provide us with an

updated Electronic Order of Battle. It included details of two MiG-29s that been seen in Belgrade but

were no longer there.

"From a tactical perspective, it didn’t change our planning. We were prepared to fight a highly

maneuverable target set with an all-aspect radar and infra-red-guided missile. But it was great

situational awareness for us because the general thinking was that the Serbian MiG-29s were only

interested in protecting the Capital.

"We launched across the Mediterranean and hooked a left turn up the Adriatic. The flight lead and

his number-two were on the western side with me and my wingman to the east. Our plan was to get to

our point of protection near Montenegro and set up an east-to-west corridor for the strikers to start going

in. It also coincided that it in a straight line from our lane was the town of Pristina where Slatina Air

Base had underground storage for aircraft.

"I was flying from south-to-north. I could see between the mountain peaks an occasional radar blip

for a contact that was moving northbound. But I could never lock it up. The aircraft seemed to be

hiding in the mountains while trying to build some situational awareness with his ground-controlled

intercept operator so that they could snap him onto a vector to go against the leading edge of the strike

package which we were protecting. Once he started to climb above the ridgeline at around 11,000 feet,

he became a clear target.

16

"I locked him up at about 50 miles from me. I tried to engage my AWACS controller. But he was a

little perplexed and not quite as prepared as he should have been. He was asking more questions than he

was providing answers.

"As I was monitoring and tracking it, it came to a point where it was no longer in our best interests

to let this guy go unchallenged. I’d done everything that an F-15 could do to positively identify the

target. And I was 99.9% sure it was a MiG-29 and that it had come out of Slatina. But the current

Rules-of-Engagement specified that the AWACS had a vote in the identification “matrix”. When it

became clear he couldn’t get his vote to me in time, I took the shot.

"The AMRAAM shot was beyond 35 miles. About the time I took it, my wingman started to get

locked-up by SAMs in the area. So I cleared him off to the west . The missile appeared to be guiding

well and I didn’t feel I needed to take a second shot.

"As it was counting down in the HUD with 5 seconds until impact, I got my eyes on the bearing and

range of the threat and began to move away from the SAMs. By now, some of the indications that I had

in my cockpit indicated full lock and I was sure they were getting really close to shooting some missiles

at me.

"Sure enough, the timer indicated zero and to the split-second the fireball ensued at about 15 miles in

my 2 o’clock position. It was a dark night and it was like they’d suddenly turned all the lights on in a

row of stadiums at once with the explosion reflected against the snow-covered mountains.

The MiG-29 “splash” occurred about 7 minutes into our 50-minute VUL. We also had a follow-on

20-minute VUL to protect a flight of B-2s that were coming in from the south. Once all the strikers

exiting the area, we were the last to leave.”

17

Having downed a MiG-29, Rodriguez then supported B-2s in a strike on Serbian positions.

An enduring legacy

The 493rd FS notched up 4 “kills” during Allied Force with Captain Mike Shower claiming a MiG-

29 as it got airborne from Batajnica Air Base on the opening night, followed by Captain Jeff Hwang

who claimed a double MiG-29 “kill” on Mar. 26.

Rodriguez subsequently moved to Headquarters, Air Combat Command and was then promoted to

full Colonel, moving to Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho to become the deputy Operations Group

Commander. He retired from the USAF in 2003 after 26 years having accumulated some 1,700 flight

hours in the F-15. He has worked for Raytheon since 2006 and is now the Vice President for Global

Requirements and Capability in the Middle East for Raytheon Missiles and Defence.

His incredible combat record makes him one of only 3 post-Vietnam triple “MiG-killers” and the

only one of these to have claimed them in 2 separate campaigns. He concludes:

“Being a fighter pilot is still the most dangerous profession in the World. When you’re in that zone

as a young Captain with 300 hours under your belt, you truly feel like you are a part of that jet. Seeing

'114' still on operations, currently deployed to the Middle East as part of the 44th Fighter Squadron out

of Kadena Air Base, Japan, she looks like the same bird on the outside. But internally she is very

different.

"F-15Cs today fly with a new Active Electronically Scanned Array [AESA] radar, a Fighter Data-

Link, and the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod to allow them to visually identify targets at long-range.

Her maintenance team is taking great care of her.

"Back then and to this day, the F-15C is what I call a 'badass machine' that can own the sky with the

right training and maintenance supporting her.”

18

The two "kill' markings are still proudly carried on F-15C 85-0114 which is now assigned to the 44th

Fighter Squadron.

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