Cesar Rodriguez (pilot)
Cesar Antonio Rodriguez | |
|---|---|
Rodriguez at the ceremony with US airmen when his combat aircraft was moved to the Smithsonian | |
| Nickname | "Rico" |
| Born | March 22, 1959 El Paso, Texas, U.S. |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Service years | 1981–2006 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing |
| Conflicts | |
| Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross Legion of Merit |
Cesar Antonio Rodriguez is a former United States Air Force (USAF) officer and pilot who served from 1981 to 2006. With three air-to-air combat victories, he joined USAF pilots Thomas Dietz, Robert Hehemann and Robert Wright as the closest to becoming a flying ace of any U.S. pilot since the Vietnam War; until April 13, 2024, when several USAF pilots attained ace status during an attack on Israel from Iran. Rodriguez scored his kills in an F-15 Eagle - the first two kills in 1991, during the first Gulf War, against a Mikoyan MiG-29 and a Mikoyan MiG-23 of the Iraqi Air Force, and his third kill came against a MiG-29 of the Yugoslav air force during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.