Coalition Air-to-Air Victories in Desert Storm
Sources: Gulf War Airpower Survey, Volume 5; Craig Brown, Debrief: A Complete History of U.S. Aerial Engagements, 1981 to the Present; Steve Davies and Doug Dildy, F-15 Eagle Engaged; Norman Friedman, Desert Victory; Robert Wilcox, Wings of Fury; World Air Power Journal, with additions from Doug Beal, Mark Bovankovich, Stu Broce (formerly of VF-1, whose 6 Feb Hip-killing mission is listed here), Andreas Gehrs-Pahl, LTJG Joe Guerrein of VFA-82, Darryl Shaw, CPT Dave Sveden (whose own air-to-air victory is also listed here), and Colin Wells. Items in parentheses indicate a disagreement between sources that I'm still trying to resolve. All errors mine. -RJL.

Highlight by:
kill - engagement - weapon - range - shooter
Radar missile
IR missile
Gun
Bomb
Maneuver
DATE CALLSIGN
UNIT
CREW
AIRCRAFT
SERIAL/BUNO
TARGET
ORDNANCE
17 Jan 1991
PENNZOIL 63
58 TFS/33 TFW
Jon "JB" Kelk
F-15C
(85-119)
MiG-29
AIM-7M
17 Jan 1991
CITGO (61)
58 TFS/33 TFW
Rob "Cheese" Graeter
F-15C
85-105
Mirage F-1EQ
AIM-7M
17 Jan 1991
CITGO (61)
58 TFS/33 TFW
Rob "Cheese" Graeter
F-15C
85-105
Mirage F-1EQ
Ground
17 Jan 1991
QUAKER 11
71 TFS/1 TFW
Steve "Tater" Tate
F-15C
83-017
Mirage F-1EQ
AIM-7M
17 Jan 1991
(ZEREX 71)
58 TFS/33 TFW
Chuck "Sly" Magill
F-15C
(85-125)
MiG-29
AIM-7M
17 Jan 1991
(ZEREX 73)
58 TFS/33 TFW
Rhory "Hoser" Draeger
F-15C
(85-119)
MiG-29
AIM-7M
17 Jan 1991
QUICKSAND 64
VFA-81
Mark "MRT" Fox
F/A-18C
163508
F-7B Fishbed
AIM-9
17 Jan 1991
QUICKSAND 62
VFA-81
Nick "Mongo" Mongillo
F/A-18C
163502
F-7B Fishbed
AIM-7
17 Jan 1991
(Unknown)
390 ECS/366 TFW
James Denton
Brent "Brandini" Brandon
EF-111A
66-016
Mirage F-1
Ground
19 Jan 1991
CITGO 21
58 TFS/33 TFW
Rick "Kluso" Tollini
F-15C
85-099
MiG-25
AIM-7M
19 Jan 1991
CITGO 22
58 TFS/33 TFW
Larry "Cherry" Pitts
F-15C
85-101
MiG-25
AIM-7M
19 Jan 1991
(CHEVRON) 26
58 TFS/33 TFW
Craig "Mole" Underhill
F-15C
85-122
MiG-29
AIM-7M
19 Jan 1991
(CHEVRON) 25
58 TFS/33 TFW
Cesar "Rico" Rodriguez
F-15C
85-114
MiG-29
Ground
19 Jan 1991
RAMBO 03
525 TFS/36 TFW
Dave "Spyro" Prather
F-15C
79-069
Mirage F-1EQ
AIM-7M
19 Jan 1991
RAMBO 04
525 TFS/36 TFW
David "Abby" Sveden
F-15C
79-021
Mirage F-1EQ
AIM-7M
24 Jan 1991
(Unknown)
No. 13 Sqn RSAF
Ayhed Saleh al-Shamrani
F-15C
80-068
Mirage F-1EQ
AIM-9P
24 Jan 1991
(Unknown)
No. 13 Sqn RSAF
Ayhed Saleh al-Shamrani
F-15C
80-068
Mirage F-1EQ
AIM-9P
26 Jan 1991
CITGO 25
58 TFS/33 TFW
Rhory "Hoser" Draeger
F-15C
85-108
MiG-23
AIM-7M
26 Jan 1991
CITGO 26
58 TFS/33 TFW
Tony "Kimo" Schiavi
F-15C
85-104
MiG-23
AIM-7M
26 Jan 1991
CITGO 27
58 TFS/33 TFW
Cesar "Rico" Rodriguez
F-15C
85-114
MiG-23
AIM-7M
27 Jan 1991
OPEC 01
53 TFS/36 TFW
Jay "OP" Denney
F-15C
84-025
MiG-23
AIM-9M
27 Jan 1991
OPEC 01
53 TFS/36 TFW
Jay "OP" Denney
F-15C
84-025
MiG-23
AIM-9M
27 Jan 1991
OPEC 02
53 TFS/36 TFW
Ben "Coma" Powell
F-15C
84-027
MiG-23
AIM-7M
27 Jan 1991
OPEC 02
53 TFS/36 TFW
Ben "Coma" Powell
F-15C
84-027
Mirage F-1EQ
AIM-7M
28 Jan 1991
BITE 04
32 TFG
Donald "Muddy" Watrous
F-15C
79-022
MiG-23
AIM-7M
29 Jan 1991
(CHEVRON 17)
58 TFS/33 TFW
David "Logger" Rose
F-15C
85-102
MiG-23
AIM-7M
2 Feb 1991
RIFLE 01
525 TFS/36 TFW
Greg "Dutch" Masters
F-15C
79-064
Il-76
AIM-7M
6 Feb 1991
ZEREX 53
53 TFS/36 TFW
Thomas "Vegas" Dietz
F-15C
79-078
MiG-21
AIM-9M
6 Feb 1991
ZEREX 53
53 TFS/36 TFW
Thomas "Vegas" Dietz
F-15C
79-078
MiG-21
AIM-9M
6 Feb 1991
ZEREX 54
53 TFS/36 TFW
Bob "Gigs" Hehemann
F-15C
84-019
Su-25
AIM-9M
6 Feb 1991
ZEREX 54
53 TFS/36 TFW
Bob "Gigs" Hehemann
F-15C
84-019
Su-25
AIM-9M
6 Feb 1991
SAVAGE 01
706 TFS/926 TFG
Robert "Swaino" Swain
A-10A
77-275
Bo-105
GAU-8
6 Feb 1991
WICHITA 103
VF-1
Stuart "Meat" Broce
Ron "Bongo" McElraft
F-14A
162603
Mi-8
AIM-9
7 Feb 1991
CHEVRON 22
58 TFS/33 TFW
Rick Parsons
F-15C
84-124
Su-7
AIM-7M
7 Feb 1991
CHEVRON 21
58 TFS/33 TFW
Anthony "ET" Murphy
F-15C
85-102
Su-22
AIM-7M
7 Feb 1991
CHEVRON 21
58 TFS/33 TFW
Anthony "ET" Murphy
F-15C
85-102
Su-22
AIM-7M
7 Feb 1991
KILLER 03
22 TFS/36 TFW
Randy "May Day" May
F-15C
80-003
Mi-24
AIM-7M
11 Feb 1991
PISTOL 01
525 TFS/36 TFW
Steve "Gunga" Dingee
F-15C
80-012
0.5 x Mi-8
AIM-7M
11 Feb 1991
PISTOL 02
525 TFS/36 TFW
Mark McKenzie
F-15C
79-048
0.5 x Mi-8
AIM-7M
14 Feb 1991
PACKARD 41
335 TFS/4 TFW
Tim "TB" Bennett
Dan "Chewie" Bakke
F-15E
89-487
Hughes 500
GBU-10
15 Feb 1991
SPRINGFIELD 27
511 TFS/10 TFW
Todd "Shanghai" Sheehy
A-10A
81-964
Mi-8
GAU-8
20 Mar 1991
AMOCO 34
22 TFS/36 TFW
John "Nigel" Doneski
F-15C
84-014
Su-22
AIM-9M
22 Mar 1991
ZEREX 21
53 TFS/36 TFW
Thomas "Vegas" Dietz
F-15C
84-010
Su-22
AIM-9M
22 Mar 1991
ZEREX 22
53 TFS/36 TFW
Bob "Gigs" Hehemann
F-15C
84-015
PC-9
Ground
NOTES
17 Jan: Graeter. The second Mirage kill was mistakenly cited as an AIM-7 kill in an earlier version of this table; however, Graeter actually only shot once. The second Mirage impacted the ground during the night engagement. "As best we can tell," Graeter later wrote, "the No. 2 guy went into a hard right turn to the west to get away from us, got spatial disorientation, and flew into the ground." Brown gives Graeter's callsign as CITGO 51, which conflicts with GWAPS and Davies.
17 Jan: Magill.
CPT Chuck "Sly" Magill was a Marine exchange pilot serving with the 58th TFS. GWAPS and Davies state that Magill's flight was ZEREX 71; however, Brown asserts that it was CITGO 1. I think the former is more probable, as all sources agree that Graeter's earlier flight was CITGO and it seems unlikely that the air tasking order would assign the same callsign for a different flight later in the day.
17 Jan: Fox. This continues to be listed as an AIM-7 kill in official records, but what actually occurred was that the pilot had accidentally had his arming switches set to HEAT when he initially pulled the trigger. This launched an AIM-9M, which does not have the characteristic smoke trail of the "Great White Wonder" Sparrow. When he did not see the smoke trail, the pilot checked his switches, reset them (assuming a weapons fault), and proceeded to fire an AIM-7. The AIM-9 got there first, however, and destroyed the MiG-21 before the Sparrow could get there.
17 Jan: Denton/Brandon. This is not an official kill credit. Some sources believe that this is the same Mirage as Graeter's second kill.
19 Jan: Rodriguez. After Underhill shot the first MiG-29, both Rodriguez and Underhill had the remaining MiG-29 bracketed. In an attempt to dive into an escape window that had already closed, the Iraqi MiG-29 pilot attempted to execute a split-S from a starting altitude of about 2,000 feet. Rodriguez, who was the engaged low man, recognized the problem and took it upstairs; the MiG-29 attempted to follow through with the split-S and hit the desert floor.
The Underhill-Rodriguez engagement occurred as CHEVRON was clearing the six of CITGO flight, which had just killed its pair of MiG-25s and was retreating south to the tanker track. It is said to have been the only turning fight of the war. In post-war interviews, Rodriguez expressed his opinion that they had been extremely lucky in the intercept, since AWACS did not call the pair of MiG-29s approaching from the left beam until they were roughly
13 miles away. Prior to that call, CHEVRON had been unaware of the MiGs' presence.
Brown states that the callsign on that day was CITGO rather than CHEVRON, which conflicts with GWAPS.
26 Jan: Draeger-Shiavi-Rodriguez. This triplet of kills was a "textbook" BVR offensive sweep, with the four CITGO F-15Cs (the fourth was flown by Bruce Till) picking up four MiG-23s and bouncing three (one of them returned to H-2 early in the intercept, presumably because of mechanical problems). The targets were sorted and shot at by all four F-15s at over 13 miles (Till's AIM-7 arrived slightly after the others and thus he did not receive a kill credit).
29 Jan: Watrous. CPT Watrous was a 32nd TFG pilot detached to the 525th TFS/36th TFW during the war.
29 Jan: Rose. Brown states that the callsign was CITGO 3, which conflicts with GWAPS.
6 Feb: Broce/McElraft. GWAPS incorrectly lists the date of this event as 7 Feb. Broce was the most junior pilot in the squadron at the time, but his original flight lead aborted (and the spare was the second most junior pilot in the squadron). Since Broce had the squadron commander in the back seat, he assumed the lead. With respect to the "Wichita" callsign, the unusual three-digit number reflected the side number of the jet. Broce recalls that this was the standard practice for VF-1 missions at the time, and does not recall a separate ATO-directed callsign (with two-digit mission number). See here for some further thoughts.
7 Feb: Parsons. COL Rick Parsons was the commander of the 33rd TFW, flying a 58th TFS aircraft on this date.
11 Feb: Dingee-McKenzie. This was a shared kill.
14 Feb: Bennett-Bakke. This was the famous laser-guided-bomb kill. The helicopter was on the ground at the time that PACKARD 41 released the GBU-10, but took off while the bomb was in flight. The WSO kept lasing the helicopter anyway, and the bomb guided straight through the rotor disc, destroying the Hughes 500 instantly. The kill was witnessed by a Special Forces team on the ground.
22 Mar: Hehemann. The PC-9 pilot ejected immediately after observing the immediately preceding Su-22 kill by ZEREX 21.