Air Force Combat Controller, 2x Silver Star Recipient | Ismael "Ish" Villegas | Ep. 189

Ish Villegas was born in Mexico City, and grew up in Del Rio, Texas. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on August 6, 1997, and he completed basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas, in October 1997. Airman Villegas then attended Combat Control Team training at Lackland AFB (Combat Control Orientation Course); Keesler AFB, Mississippi (Combat Control Operator Course); Fort Benning, Georgia (U.S. Army Airborne School); Fairchild AFB, Washington (U.S. Air Force Basic Survival School); Pope AFB, North Carolina (Combat Control School); Hurlburt Field, Florida (Special Tactics Advanced Skills Training); Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona (U.S. Army Military Freefall Parachutist School); and Panama City, Florida (U.S. Air Force Combat Divers School) between October 1997 and September 1999. Sgt Villegas served as a Special Tactics Operator, Combat Control Team member with the 21st Special Tactics Squadron of the 720th Special Tactics Group at Pope AFB, North Carolina, from September 1999 to March 2004, and then as a Combat Control Team member with the 321st Special Tactics Squadron of the 352nd Operations Group at RAF Mildenhall, England, from March 2004 to November 2010. His next assignment was as a Combat Control Team member back with the 21st Special Tactics Squadron at Pope AFB from November 2010 to August 2011. SMSgt Villegas served as a Special Operations Recruiting Liaison at Lackland AFB, Texas, from 2011 to 2014, and then served as NCOIC of Assessments and Selections with the Special Tactics Training Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida, from 2014 to 2017. His final assignment with the Special Operations Command Care Coalition at JBSA Fort Sam Houston, Texas, from 2017 until his retirement from the Air Force on May 1, 2020.