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 had almost 900 hours of “Hog” flying in that time - which is pretty amazing.” “I got to fly some very complex and demanding missions as an A-10 pilot in Korea for two years. 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.
Rodriguez and his fellow Eagle pilots knew instinctively what to do, a fact that he emphasized in his exclusive interview with The War Zone. It was what prepared him when he went into combat at very short notice. 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. Eight 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. He was part of the 58th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS), and strapped to his jet were four live AIM-7M Sparrow radar-guided air-to-air missiles and four shorter-range AIM-9M Sidewinders. Of the 32 air-to-air kills by Eagles of that war, two were his. “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. Operation Desert Storm was the first chapter in his incredible story. Remarkably, it's 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. In his 26-year service career, he played important roles in two major air wars. Air Force F-15C Eagle pilot Colonel Cesar “Rico” Rodriguez has an incredible story to tell.
0 kommentar(er)
