Operation Eldorado Canyon

Jim Rotramel graduated with a BS in Aeronautical Engineering before having a 20-year US Air Force career that included 10 years and more than 1,000 hours as an F-111D and F-111F WSO, becoming the chief training route planner for both wings. He was part of the planning effort for the 1986 Libya raid, Operation Eldorado Canyon. After retiring from the US Air Force, he worked at NAS Patuxent River, where he helped develop the first automated weapon-planning program for the F/A-18A-D Hornet. As an outgrowth of this work, he rewrote the weapon loading chapters for the F/A-18, H-60, P-3, S-3, AV-8 and F-14, ultimately becoming an assistant to the Chief Engineer of the F/A-18 program.