F-15 Eagle Pilot Shot Down 3 MiGs
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- Опубліковано 12 гру 2020
- In 'Top Gun: Maverick', Admiral Cain (played by Ed Harris) describes Maverick as, among other things, "the only man to down three enemy planes in the past 40 years." Not true!
Meet Cesar "Rico" Rodriguez, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and former F-15 Eagle fighter pilot. Rico scored two kills in Operation Desert Storm and a third in Allied Force eight years later.
Enjoy this interview? You can watch the full, unedited two-hour version on our Patreon page: / happy-hour-6-38929291 - Наука та технологія
I was there in one of the German Luftwaffe ECR Tornados, trailing the Eagles which were sweeping the skies in front of us on 24th March 1999; we were in CAPs west of Pristina providing SEAD with AGM88s for the COMAO against targets around Pristina. I met Rico a couple of years later during a Flag Exercise at Nellis. Impressive man. Thanks for clearing our path back then over Serbia.
I am one of many who are ashamed of what NATO did to Serbia.
Been in BiH and Kosovo. Seen more than a few remains of what was once a village. Today, as then, I refuse to take either parties side, but opinions as to why you are there, changes. When a kid with no parents alive, wearing rags in a winter Balkans weather, is shivering before you as you put a wool blanket on them... your opinion as to why you are there, changes.
-not ashamed.
@@robinac6897 you would be more ashamed of what the people of that region/neighbours did to each other
@@patthewoodboy Yes. Like what the Croatian Ustashe did to the Serbians in WWII. Even the Nazis were sickened.
@@user-xt6mf1wk8w I am unfortunately familiar with it, going back to battle of kosovo polje in 1448, and even eralier Roman 5th Macedonian Spanish Equine Cohorts south of Pristina; why I do not take any side, then or now. The mission was to maintain peace, and help when possible...mission accomplished.
During my off-time (there wasn't much,) I read as much as I could, to better understand- memories run long in those places. Still have friends from all sides, whom I chat with on a regular basis.
The tanker crews never get the glory but they still risked their lives to ensure that the fighters would get home. I find it amazing that the tanker crew was forward thinking and realized that the fighters were not going to be able to make it back and took action.
They now have live problems from 100's of Gallons of Beer being bought for them from the Pilots they helped out
I think this sort of thing happens more often than people realize. In Robin Olds's memoirs, he talks about how a tanker flew into a prohibited area to refuel an F-4 Phantom that would not have been able to RTB otherwise. The pilot of the tanker was going to get court-martialed as a result, but that went away after the one of the higher-ups among the fighter pilots recommended the tanker pilot for a Silver Star.
Exactly what KillerSalmon said. Tanker crews in SEA often went farther than permitted, but to report doing so would have brought down discipline from higher. I know there were instances when a (remember, these were A-model 135s) crew towed a fighter back, and "went the extra mile" to get fuel to thirsty airplanes. Dad's talked a little about that with me as we reminisce quietly about his career as a navigator (3rd BW Korea, KC-97s, KC-135A, and a tour in C-130s 1968-1970). Before he retired in 1972, he served as a Young Tiger StanEval navigator. I recall Mom asking once about his flying hours, and it was about 22,500 hours KC-135, 2,000 in the "green and brown whisper jet" C-130, plus B-26 Invader and KC-97. Mom passed last year, and Dad's in the same room at the same wonderful assisted living facility she departed from. He (and I) know that she's saving him a place, and after an incredible 65-year partnership, I rejoice at the example they've set. Dad often said that we are so good at policing ourselves, that we use up good people and equipment, in that effort that should have been focused on the bad guys. They all knew that the target lists sent to SE Asia commanders were passed from the White House to Hanoi at the same time. Col. Jack Broughton's books, Going Downtown, and the one that followed, are worth reading. I thank Mom and Dad for raising me to serve the public, which continues as a retired volunteer. Forever an AF brat (only lived on base for the last couple years of Dad's AF career) and forever grateful for all we have been given.
Further tanker reading RE: SEA. “Young Tigers & their Friends”, Air Force Magazine June 1998.
Kudos to that tanker pilot who flew into harm's way to get his guys out safe.
No doubt. Sluggo discusses that sort of thing in his 'Tanker Pilot' book.
Tanker crews.
I was thinking exactly that. Why don’t Netflix do a series on awesome air combat of real stories - Feature film style . Not documentaries !!! Maybe some DCS and a few cockpit clips and CGI cartooned like The Liberator style
( Me randomly rambling )
Big brass balls to be maneuvering a flying jet fuel tanker in enemy air space, true dedication obedience.
Tanks don't fly🤔
I was deployed to PSAB in 97 as an F-15E WSO and met “Mole” Underhill, Rico’s wingman for their first kill. Got to hear this story from him. Great story, great Americans, awesome jet!
Awesome that you was a "Wizzo" Weapons Systems Officer ) WSO in the Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle "Mudhen"!! That's a hell of an awesome Aircraft and definitely a favorite of mine! Yeah this man is a badass too! So you met his wingman at Prince Sultan Air Base in Al' Kharj, Saudi Arabia!? Sweet! Thanks for your service as well brother! 🇺🇸🦅 By the way where you with the 48th Fighter Wing, 4th Fighter Wing, 366th Fighter Wing, or 3rd Wing with the F-15E?
@@Tuglife912 I was in the WFFFFRs 336FS of the 4FW. Great memories!
@Bobber Dude!! Awesome the 336th Fighter Squadron "Rocketeers" are one my favorites!!
@@Tuglife912 ok nerd.
Hey F-15 pilot, what is the maximum engagement altitude of an F-15? If you really are an F-15 pilot you will know what that answer is, you will not give it out because it is classified. F-15 training was at Luke AFB in the 1970's.
Moral of the story: never give up on your dreams and be ready to work your arse off to get what u want.
Rico wanted to fly the Eagle, had to do almost a thousand hours in the Hog, not only ended up in an F15 but also going down in history as the baddest Eagle driver. Wow inspiring.
@Nybbl er maybe not a CAS pilot, maybe not a pilot, maybe not even in aviation, maybe something better you have never thought about. You have to push to get to it. Whatever that is.
Don’t forget the Israelis!
@@ShooterOnTheRockrespect to Giora "Hawkeye" Epstein of the IAF.
@Nybbl er build or buy a part 103 ultralight get training but you dont need medical or license be smart an get training even though it's not required
Crew chief on 85-124 (a tail number he'd probably remember) in the 58th FS '91-'95. 'Rico' was always a great pilot to have come out to my jet. He always had a great attitude with us maintainers and is a real character.
Last name?
@@TRUTHandLIGHT4809 Wagle aka: "Wags"
w'sup Ed ;)
@@rexw2203 I know I am getting old but I don't remember that name. I left June of 1992
@@TRUTHandLIGHT4809 No worries Ed, I DO remember you though...I think I can remember you getting 'hit' by lightning and we found you face down in the rain. Or...am I suffering from a bad memory as well?
@@rexw2203 Dead on with your memory
I flew 135Rs in Desert Storm and refueled Eglin/58th FS Eagles several times and took many photos. Talked to Rico on the phone about ten years ago and he related the kills just as he did here. I had thought maybe we had refueled him on one of the kills but it turned out to be his element we had refueled and he and his wingman had gone to a nearby tanker. The beauty of the Desert Storm air war, in my view from the tanker, was that the brass didn't care how we got the job done, just do whatever you need to do to put gas where it needed to be. It was actually fun to go in-country to go get those guys the gas they needed and we had several saves.
This man is a legend and a hero and a truly emphatic guy on top of that. Good stuff...
A real hero, not a Hollywood one.
I remember Rico from the "Dogfights" series from the History Channel (almost 15 years ago), talking about his missions in Iraq and the former Yugoslavia. Great to see him after all these years.
I also remmeber rico from DOGFIGHTS....so good to see he is doing well. "Rico" your a true champion.
After I finished this I went straight back to watch that episode again for the 400th time hahahahah
Haha same. The series is very biased toward the US (/allies at times) but still one of the most exciting series about military aviation of all time.
@@OmgReaverDrop I saw Dogfights giving credit where credit is due, especially to the Iraqi MiG pilots who used very good tactics that were clearly designed to counter the APG-63 and maximize deception so they could take away the F-15's BVR dominance. Still didn't work out for them.
@@LRRPFco52 Yes to be fair that was a very lopsided war, even in objective terms. Iraq had a good military (as the documentary stated, "battle hardened" from the Iran-Iraq War) but no country is a match for even the US alone. And not to mention the US had a coalition.
Colonel Rodriguez was my group commander in Kuwait during the war in 2003. I had no idea about his history. Great story and well told!
I got to hang out with Rico! He was the MX Group commander (I think) at Davis-Monthan AFB. The night I graduated from A-10 school a group of us “hospitality checked” Rico at his house on base. He was awesome. Super gracious and humble. Also has a never-ending supply of Scotch. Rico if you read this, it wasn’t me that filled your hedges out front with barf. I’ll gladly tell you who it was though! ATTACK
As a former USAF Avionics tech on the F-15 at Holloman and Elmendorf, I can honestly say the F-15 is an incredible piece of weapon machinery. The engineers that design our 1st class American fighters are geniuses.
114 should never be resigned to the Bone Yard she needs to go to a decent AirMuseum.
I'd say there is a high likelihood of that
I have long said it needs to be in the AFM in Dayton. I took a photo of 114 with Rory Draeger flying it on the last day of DS. Tony Sciavi on his wing. Dreager was happy to pose his jet for my camera.
Agreed. It would be dishonorable to put them in the boneyard.
@@FighterPilotPodcast p
Interestingly enough was 114 not the same number residing on Maverick’s Tomcat?
Enjoyed hearing his story first hand, having watched it live from a different perspective; the scope on the AWACS. Still watch that Dogfights episode every so often. Rico was not exaggerating about the ops tempo. For the 1st 2 weeks our crew either took off or landed every single day, our avg. mission was 15.5 hrs. We had 12 hrs between landing & next take-off, that included all the pre & post flight work. Proud of how all elements came together in DS.
Really nice step back for anyone familiar with this time frame. I was a gunship guy over at Hurlburt Field, about five miles from Eglin, where the 33rd TFW was stationed. When we all eventually returned, we of course had heard how great our Eglin guys had done, and when we saw all those green stars on the 33rd's yardarm outside the gate, it was a great feeling. Well done Rico, great job telling this epic story!
My dad helped design the Fan Blades for the Compressor @ General Electric. The word I remember most is Thrust! I jokingly call my Dad and my Uncle the Top guns of GE Aircraft Engines! Rico, I thank you for sharing your combat experience with us. This goes where nobody's ever been before. The Pilots terminology explained in a way that nobody else could have! I'm Proud of your Greatness. I'm gonna share this with my dad. I'm sure that he'll really appreciate it. Thanks again. My hat's off to the Host of the Video as well!
This guy lived my dream. Started in an A-10 then got mig kills in an f15 😎
I was enlisted in the Airforce and the Army for a combined 22 years and you often see the fast movers flying overhead during the course of your training. This has connected the human element for me and I have to say the Colonel is a great American.
He isn't the only person to shoot down 3 aircraft. Thomas Vegas Dietz shot down 3 aircraft in 91. Don't get me wrong Colonel Caesar Rodriguez is one of my heroes. I would love to sit and talk with the man. Just as attitude and everything. His life experiences.
Thank you Mr. Rodriguez but also thank you to the tanker crew they were so brave.
Love the fighter pilot “talk”. Great stuff, Rico is the man
I was an infantryman and I cried when I had to give up my M4 when I discharged. I can only imagine the feeling of discharging as a fighter pilot.
did you cry when you gave up your brain
@@Don-co9zs Nah. I actually enjoyed kicking in doors and seeing the whites of the eyes of my enemies.
@@John.Smith007 That's next level cring
@@colindooley4422 Yeah. As next level as your spelling.
Thanks for your service, folks. All of you. Congrats on the stars!!
Humble and extraordinary, a great example of valor, discipline, empathy and purpose. Sadly is a story of life and death, but done by a honorable man fighting for his beliefs in the most challenging situations. Best for "Rico"
I worked with Rico at Raytheon. He is a good man.
Nice.... As a machinist I subcontracted for Raytheon in Wichita Ks for years.
Rico is for me a real hero. No overblown ego here, just a true professional, going about his duties in, as us Brits say, an unassuming way. He is simply one of the best of the best.
I am an armchair fighter pilot in DCS. We fly F18's and F16's and the Warthog and the rest, but hearing it straight from Rico puts me in the seat and I feel like I am there! The great thing about Fighter Sims is you get to learn a lot and I was able to understand 99% of the jargon as Rico explained. I missed my calling in life. I shoulda joined the Airforce in '89 when I went to the recruiters office. Thank you for an awesome interview so guys like me can vicariously live those experiences through great pilots. Looking forward to more!
We lose a lot of good digital men in DCS. God bless their digital families.
Outrageous to hear all that seat time... holy smokes. What a great interview Jello! Thanks for taking us on this ride!
Hell yeah man Rico is awesome! I just watched something just last week with him and Colonel Jeff "Claw" Hwang when they flew F-15's for Operation Allied Force. Great stuff as always Jello
Yep. Claw came and talked to TOPGUN when I was in charge of scheduling "MiG Killer Debriefs" for awhile there.
Man I loved listening to this interview.
My first assignment in the Air Force as an aircraft electrician was at Kadena Air Base in the 44th Fighter Squadron. Even though we spent a lot of 12 hour shifts and weekends working on those F-15s I wouldn't trade those orders for anything. There was a fun time ahead changing the secondary heat exchangers but the alone time you got in the hanger was well worth it. I only wish I wouldv'e stayed at Kadena longer.
Thank you for sharing these stories and keeping them alive. Also, I love the podcast and may be biased but liked the F-15 series the best. Keep up the great work sir!
Thanks! Will do...
Thanks for your service! Great video & information.
Rico! Awesome leader and pilot. I served with him and enjoyed every minute! Juice
He got his last kill on my birthday! frickin awesome... Thank you sir for your service and for my birthday present.
Absolutely the best picture painting of an amazing job ,no pictures needed Could sit with this guy for hours listening
Then be sure to head over to our Patreon page where you can hear Rico for two hours!
Rico, you rock! Great interview!
This a great interview.
Every infantrymen loved A10 interdiction, bar none
And the Air Force wants to replace the A10 with the F35. The A10 needs to be given to the Army.
@@oldmech619 Damn right
I heard that.
I remember working on this aircraft while stationed at Kadena AB.
Camp Hansen. 3rd Tanks USMC 1970-1971
RAF Commander Nigel David 'Sharkey' Ward, DSC, AFC. 3 kills on 1 mission.
I think he ment in US Air Force
They did say MiGs. Ward didn't have any MiG kills. He also did not have 3 kills in one mission. He shot down a Pucara in one sortie and then later in the day got a Mirage/Nesher. A week and a half later he shot down a C-130
Actually he meant Royal Navy
Awesome flying Rico!
30+ years ago, and, that aircraft is still in operation. Obviously, aircraft has 'good bones' !
@Hello Paul how are you doing?
Nice tours. Great well-rounded experience to have good A-10 time AND F-15C time. Well done.
Rico is a great American and deserves all the respect we can give him. Break Break, Jello, on 28 Feb 94 “Wilber” Wright splashed 3 J-21s near Banja Luka
would be possible to locate exact engagement location and where about them J-2 splashed. What I have heard it was 60 miles southwest of BanjaLuka but nobody never confirmed that.
Thank You Rico for your service...
I was in artillery in Desert Storm in the First Cavalry Division. I never even heard this story! Most of the aircraft I saw in action were A-10s and Apaches doing air-to-ground operations. Great story!
🤜🤛
Regardless of his accolades, he is one of the best air-to-air storytellers I’ve ever heard.
Bravo!
Well met & Nicely Done ! I was in the 561'st TFS , the old vet's who still flew the F- 4G's "Wild Weasel's" , I was honored to be one of their "Weasel Keeper's" , in the Nav/Com shop that kept your/their Radio's , Intercom, & most important of all the I.F.F. Transponder's . We kept the Mode-IV and everything else as 'Spot On' as we could in a Plane that was made when I was only 3 years old {1969 model's} . Great job on your times with DS & Allied Force . Be well & ' Tally Ho ! ' :-D TSS
An awesome story. Rico is a cool guy and a great guest on your podcast. Thanks for sharing.
I can’t believe the amount of terminology quoted here. Seems incredibly complex to fly one of these. Hats off to this gentleman.
He and me share the same birthday, but not birth year. He's a real American hero. Hats off to you Sir
Fantastic stories. Thanks for sharing these.
Thank you both for a quite captivating interview! Rico; thank you especially for recounting your introduction to Desert Shield in August of 1990. I worked for BBN DeltaGraphics that same August of 1990 and I happen to be at Fort Hood to witness just a part of the massive mobilization of M1s, M2s, AH-64s, UH-60s, etc.. I used to build visual databases for Delta Graphics. I ended up relocating to Virginia and building virtual versions of pretty much all of Kuwait and Iraq to support a number of DARPA projects - including one you may have heard of called "73-Easting".
Best,
j.
This is a fantastic dude !!!
I really enjoyed this podcast !!!
Wow wow wow he's a god among pilots
I can remember my father bringing in a mig that defected from cuba, full ab I think he said it took him 7 minutes from cuba to key west.
I was schemes and dreams (Plans & Scheduling)for the 58th FS during Desert Storm. Rico probably doesn’t remember me but he was always a cool humble pilot when he came into debrief (same office). One of the good guys that recognized the maintenance guys. Nice to see him here. The record of the 33rd and 58th is one of the most undocumented of the war. We took 25 aircraft and managed to get 17 of the 32 air to air kills of the war.
Awsome content Jello, another fantastic interview. Great job.
Thanks, Eric. 👍
I worked with Rico while at 9th AF Stan/Eval at Shaw AFB in the mid 90's. In between his kills.
Very impressive and believe me I appreciate everything he has done.
The F=15 has the highest kill ratio of any aircraft I think of any airforce anywhere. Amazing design and amazing and skilled pilots!! Thank you 'Rico' and all those that do this. Not enough words to express the gratitude for your service and all those that serve in all the services, truly, very special folks!!!
What a great interview. One of the most revealing discussions about air combat tactics, we seldom if ever hear about how the Red air fights. I think that the hard deck kill of the MiG-29 is an example of how important training is. The Iraq pilot obviously knew how to fly his aircraft effectively but he lost situational awareness whereas Rico did not. Rico was also cognizant of potential Red air tactics and avoided flying into the strength of a potential maneuver. The beam maneuver of the flight of MiG-29s also demonstrates the value of stealth. The F-15s were obviously visible on Iraqi radar and the Iraqis knew where to maneuver into the F-15's' radar blindspot. It sheds some light on how Russian tactics could be employed on aircraft such as the SU-57 which has side looking radar. The beam maneuver points the nose away from the opposing aircraft so having radar emitters on the side is beneficial to maintaining radar lock. It also demonstrates the benefits of the superior situational awareness that aircraft like the F-35 have with their data links. Rico’s description of events highlights how much effort was required to gain a good radar picture of the battle space.
Yeah, I agree, good comment
especially looking at how modern jet fighters like the f-35 are stealth aircraft it goes to show that even situational awareness can be weaponized, popping up on an unaware enemy, it is especially important to keep track of the opponent
The beam maneuver exploits the doppler notch. To remove ground clutter from the scope the doppler radar is programmed not to show any returns that are moving below a set speed relative to the radar/jet. By turning your jet so as to fly perpendicular (putting the radar/jet on your beam) to the radar/jet your relative speed drops to zero and your jet disappears from the scope. Side looking radar would not help. Not sure if the beam maneuver works against current technology radars.
He got a kill on my birthday when I was 5. Hell yeah!!
My stepfather flew the A-4 at the later ends of the planes career of the navy. He told me a story of he flew with an instructor who flew in vietnam. My stepfather said he was scared shitless how crazy his instructor flew. He was a Phantom pilot.
Epic stories. I’m proud to have served in the same Air Force 🫡🇺🇸
A different breed ... thank you for sharing I hope you don't get in any trouble
I was a crew chief with the 58th when they had F4Es. Wow.
I remember the Dogfights interview where he said certain assets gave them Intel on what type of aircraft they were facing out of H-2 in advance. This was even more interesting in that it was HUMINT from a foreign asset on the ground, down to the details of who the pilots were. That and the recovered MiG HUD footage recording AIM-7M continuous rod deployment stuck out to me more than anything.
It was also captivating to hear more about how the Iraqis employed counter F-15 tactics and knew exactly when to notch, and that Rico and his wingmen had counters for that as well.
And then to learn he was a Hawg driver before all of this....truth is stranger and more interesting than fiction.
Indeed.
have you ever seen any picture or video of that AIM-7 continuous rod deployment?
@@sidv4615 It’s at 26:26 in this video.
Awesome episode!!!
Thank you for your service Sir
“Several pulls in excess of 10g”. Holy s***, that how you win dogfights. ... and keep the crew chief busy.
that's nuts! just too fly something like an f15 has got to be one of the most visceral awesome experiences . But to do that while trying to not get killed and in doing so putting your body through everything it can handle and taking you to the edge of consciousness....nutty. you're the man Rico
Mike Girard: lol, 😂🤣😂 I'm sure the F-15 crew chief is nothing but honored back then to fix Ricco's wear and tear!!
"Maintenence is not gonna be happy..."
Larry Pitts did a 12G split-S to get behind a MIG-25 and he said he was so pumped up of adrenaline it didnt even faced him
I also remember the story from Dogfights. Towards the end of this story, my ears perked up, because it isn't often I hear my name attached to another guy.
You guys are fantastic! Great interview.
Thanks. 👍
One of my best friends and neighbors growing up initially started as a 810 pilot out a flight school. Few years later he upgraded to the F-16 where he eventually became an IP and then went to the Arizona national guard where he flew the F-16 and flew for American Airlines as a captain.
Outstanding!
"Several pulls over 10 G's"? Holy shit! OK, the Incredicoaster at California Adventure pulls 4.3 G's and it makes me dizzy. 10 G's in a fight...just amazeballs!
To think every day I dashed home from work and ate in front of TV to follow what these heroes were doing. Kudos to the tanker crew who put others ahead of their lives. Thank you all.
Wow 114 is still in service after 30 years! Great testament to a great aircraft.
Fantastic stories, indeed. He shoots down a MIG and gets yelled at for un shiny boots. Oh by the way they are going to have to change the TOPGUN movie trailer to (The only man to down three enemy planes in the past 40 years.) to 50 years by the time we get to see the movie.
Actually their is a USAF F-16 driver with 4 kills over FRY. Eagle guys don't like to acknowledge that.
If he didn't roll, he probably could have shined his boots with 80 grit that morning and been just fine :)
Rico! I have the dogfights history dvds! Rico is awesome! I'm glad he's doing well! Thank you, Rico! Screw those migs!
nice mid-air pic of the vampires 44th, kadena ab...great assignment...great leadership, great teammates early 90s
Much respect to both of these men
The fighter pilots I’ve met had zero outside interests but to follow the road to being a fighter pjlot. At an age probably before 18 they knew exactly what they wanted to do in life. Pin point focus was their mind set so it seemed. I can’t imagine that type of focus at that age beyond doing goofball shit. Hat’s off for these men and women that have a great job and they do it well. Thank you for your service and dedication to keeping us safe
Well said, Scott.
Rico, professional badass.
Thank you for talking about your flights. I really miss all the challenging stories we /I heard about when I was a Captain in the AF and we would go to those "Company Grade Officer" meetings/briefings(@ Incirlik)
Commander 'Sharkey' Ward, Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, shot down 3 Argentine aircraft during the Falklands War in 1982 in his Sea Harrier.
Wow excellent account of the way things went on over there. It's great to hear this first person point of view and I guess the only thing better would have been being there.
Unless you were one of the guys flying the three other planes...
Whoa Jello went from piano recital-Dad to grizzled veteran there in a hurry.
Hadn’t seen the beard before, nice work
That was a lot of fun to hear him describe everything. WOW.. I always felt that those guys have to be thinking m10 or 15 steps ahead of all of it. I'm an Airforce brat. My father flew during WWll, and Viet Nam. He was either flying a bomber or later in Viet Nam, he was a C130 Reconniscence. He never had this kind of story.
Thanks for sharing, and a BIG THANKS to RICO and I think Mull for their service to this country.
We need a movie about this. Please please. Awesome...my brother passed back in 04. He would have loved to listen to this. He loved this kind of stuff.
Fascinating!
As an old crew chief on A-10s. Yeah,
I was in the service in 77-81 served in Charleston S.C. and visited Citidel for every home game for 3+ yrs for every football game.
I actually fly the A10 also! (Mine is radio controlled)
Didn't catch the time frame for your DMAFB stint, Rico, but by my reconning, you probably have training time with Jack Stokes, The younger brother of one of my best friends from high school. Good man. Also, I was stationed at DMAFB from March 1976 through August, 1977, a 427xx with the 355th FMS. Great times!
Respect sir! Thank you for your service and for the freedom we live under in this country.
This is the first of your vids I have watched. WOW, fantastic content. And this man is a legend! But I do have a question about the title.. didn't Dietz and Hehemann both get credited with 3 kills during DS?
This was really entertaining content. Thanks much
You're welcome, Richard.
Rico, you pilots are brave individuals. I recall when the F-117 was shot down. That night I was the PSO, duty agent at quarters 1, The Chateau. The Aid had just left, I believe it was LTG Jay Silveria (Major) or LTG Stephen Twitty. Commo elected me to brief the SACEUR. That night I was pushing calls to D.C. Rico thank you for your service, you guys were the tip of the spear on that campaign. Respectfully
58th Gorillas "When Gorillas Fly Migs Die" I was in the 33 FW Nomads. There used to be a sign entering the 33 FW area "Largest MIG Parts Distributer in Southwest Asia". 16 kills in the Gulf War. 104-0 = AIR SUPERORITY.
Nomad Jeff I still have my shirt! It’s framed these days on my wall. I still go by the Nomad user name too. Here’s to the Nomads that have ceased their wandering. Miss all of my brothers in the 33rd.
I was at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in my last couple weeks of AIT of my Artillery Repair School when Kuwait was attacked by Iraq. The next morning, everything that was painted green was painted Desert Tan.
Awesome interview! Greatly appreciate our Freedom Fighters!
Awesome video