Cesar Rodriguez ( United States Air Force pilot ) Cesar Antonio " Rico " Rodriguez was a United States Air Force officer and pilot from 1981 to 2006 . His three air - to - air combat victories brought him closer to becoming an air ace than any American pilot since the Vietnam War . Rodriguez scored his 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 . His third kill came against a MiG - 29 of the Yugoslavian Air Force during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia . Early Life and Career . Rodriguez was born in 1959 at Guaynabo , Puerto Rico ; son of a career U . S . Army NCO he lived on various military bases and graduated from Antilles High School at Fort Buchanan , Puerto Rico in 1977 . He received a degree in Business Administration from The Citadel in 1981 and was commissioned as an officer in the U . S . Air Force , after attending Undergraduate Pilot Training he was awarded pilot wings in November , 1982 . His first operational assignment was flying the Fairchild Republic A - 10 Thunderbolt II at Suwon Air Base , South Korea ; in 1985 he was selected to attend the Instructor Pilot Course at Randolph AFB , Texas then spent the following 3 years as an AT - 38 Instructor Pilot at Holloman AFB , New Mexico ; in 1988 he transitioned to the McDonnell Douglas F - 15 Eagle and was assigned to the 33d Tactical Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB , Florida . Rodriguez flew missions in support of the invasion of Panama in 1989 and following service in Operation Desert Storm served on the staff of 9th Air Force at Shaw AFB , South Carolina then attended Air Command and Staff College . Beginning in 1995 he was Chief of Force Requirements and Executive Officer to the Commander of U . S . Air Forces Europe at Ramstein Air Base , Germany then returned to operational flying as a pilot and Chief of Safety with the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath , UK ; he next served as Assistant Chief of Safety at Air Combat Command Headquarters in Virginia and then attended the Naval War College in Newport , Rhode Island . In 2002 he was assigned as Deputy Commander of the 366th Operations Group at Mountain Home AFB , Idaho and also deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom serving as Operations Group Commander for the 332d Air Expeditionary Wing , the largest flying unit in Central Command . His final assignment was as Commander of the 355th Mission Support Group at Davis - Monthan AFB , Arizona ; he retired in November , 2006 . His numerous awards include the Legion of Merit , 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Air Medal with 11 Oak Leaf Clusters . Gulf War . Rodriguez , call sign " Rico " scored the first two air - air direct hits of his Air Force career in the Gulf War . His first hit occurred when he and his wingman Craig " Mole " Underhill came across two Iraqi MiG - 29 " Fulcrums " . The two F - 15s quickly locked up the MiG - 29s , which turned east to avoid them . However , an AWACS then reported two more MiG - 29s coming in fast at them from the west a mere 13 miles away . The two F - 15s and two MiG - 29s charged straight at each other . Underhill quickly fired an AIM - 7 at the first MiG . At the same time , the second MiG - 29 , piloted by Captain Jameel Sayhood , " locked up " Rodriguez , who then quickly executed a dive down to the deck to avoid the radar lock and nearly collided with the AIM - 7 Sparrow fired by Rodriguez ' s wingman which , seconds later , destroys the lead MiG . After seeing his wingman killed , Sayhood decided to bug out briefly . Rodriguez rejoined with Underhill until Sayhood reappeared . Underhill locked him up , though his computer would not let him fire the AIM - 7 missile to destroy the MiG because of a glitch in his IFF which told him that the MiG was a friendly aircraft . Rodriguez and Sayhood then proceeded to merge , whereupon they both turned left and promptly got into a turning fight . As they descended towards the ground , Sayhood attempted to execute a split - s maneuver . However having insufficient altitude ( about 600 ft instead of he crashed into the ground . Rodriguez was credited with a maneuvering kill . His second kill came as he was flying in formation with three other pilots , Captain Rory Draeger with his wingman Captain Tony " Kimo " Schiavi , and Rodriguez with his wingman Captain Bruce Till . An AWACS picked up four Iraqi MiG - 23s taking off from the airfield designated H2 . The four F - 15s turned ninety degrees , and spread out over a space of ten miles to maximize their radar and missile coverage . One of the four MiGs bugged out with mechanical problems . Draeger assigned the targets , he will take the lead MiG , while Schiavi takes the northern one , while Rodriguez was assigned the southern MiG . The three of them locked up the MiGs and all fired AIM - 7 radar guided missiles at the MiGs . All three were destroyed within seconds of each other to for a " textbook " beyond visual range dogfight . The moment of the missiles impact in the MiG - 23 was caught in the cockpit camera of that MiG , which was later recovered by a special forces team . Kosovo Campaign . During Operation Allied Force in the Balkans Rodriguez was deployed for the campaign against the Serbs . On the first night of the campaign , March 24 , 1999 , several Serbian MiG - 29 s rose up to resist the air attacks . Two MiGs took off on the opening night from Nis Air Force Base . The first was damaged from a missile strike from a Dutch General Dynamics F - 16 Fighting Falcon fighter , whilst the second flown by Serbian Major Ilijo Arizanov was engaged and shot down by an F - 15 Eagle piloted by Rodriguez . The MiG - 29s of the Serbian Air Force were very old and suffering severe problems with their systems . Major Ilijo was having trouble getting his radar working when he was shot down by Rodriguez . This would be Rodriguez ' s final kill , making him the leading MiG killer since the Vietnam War and tying him with three other USAF pilots for the most aerial victories since Vietnam . Later Service . After his combat service , Rodriguez continued to serve with the US Air Force until November 30 , 2006 , when he retired with the rank of Colonel and the nickname " Last American Ace " . He currently resides in Tucson , Arizona and works for Raytheon .