A Bond Forged on the Desert Storm Flight Line

When I think of battle buddies, I think of all the “fingerprints” on the mission. When I got to the flight line, I didn’t just see the airplane I was about to fly in combat. What I saw was the fingerprints of so many people­—from family to community, from airmen to technicians to engineers. When I think about the fingerprints on my airplane, I want to say thank you. And during my time flying combat missions, the fingerprints were personified by Sergeant Dave Westrup. 

When I went to war in the Persian Gulf, Dave was the crew chief for the F-15C Eagle, aircraft 85-0114, assigned to the 58th Fighter Squadron at Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base. He was from Kentucky. He was the one who made sure the fuel truck was there, made sure the weapons were checked, made sure the electronic warfare systems were ready to go. Of the thousands of airplanes that I’ve flown, Dave is the crew chief who sticks in my mind because he launched me on the two sorties that I flew in Desert Storm where I scored two air-to-air victories.

National Air and Space Museum, Steven Udvar-Hazy Center, Virginia. Ret/USAF Cesar "Rico" Rodriguez and David Westrup.

Courtesy Cesar Rodriguez

What I always remember about Dave is that, as I would come out to the jet, there were so many things going through my mind as the mission commander. There was no time for small talk. Dave would salute me, and I would salute him back. I would say, “How is the jet doing?” He’d say, “Hey, boss, she’s ready to go.” His words and actions gave me incredible comfort.

Dave was a career crew chief, and he retired after 20 years of service. He went back to Kentucky, where he works on his farm. He and his wife, Becky, have a beautiful family, with kids and grandkids.

On August 13 of last year, Dave and I were side by side when aircraft 85-0114 landed for the last time, at Washington Dulles International Airport. It was headed for restoration, then to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum collection.

It was an amazing reunion. I watched Dave and another crew chief circle the aircraft. It was clear how much passion Dave had for 114, and we were flooded with memories of 1991. We felt so grateful that we could render a final salute to that F-15 and say, “Hasta la vista.”

Colonel Cesar “Rico” Rodriguez, 67, served as an Air Force fighter pilot from 1981 to 2006 and flew under the call sign Rico. He scored two air-to-air combat victories against enemy MiGs during the Persian Gulf War of 1991–92 and a third while serving with NATO forces in Yugoslavia in 1999. He lives in Arizona, where he runs Splash 3, a veterans’ and children’s charity he founded.