TOPGUN is a nickname for what began as the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School and is now known as the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program. Formerly located at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California, TOPGUN is now located at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada. A media account of a TOPGUN class formed the basis of the movie Top Gun.
History[]
The United States Navy Fighter Weapons School was established on March 3, 1969 at Naval Air Station Miramar near San Diego, California. In the movie, Charlie notes that TOPGUN utilizes the A-4 Skyhawk and the F-5 Freedom Fighter as aggressor aircraft simulating MiGs. The real TOPGUN did indeed utilize the A-4 and borrowed T-38 Talon aircraft from the U.S. Air Force (the T-38 is a non-armed training variant of the F-5) as aggressor aircraft. Later, the F-16 Fighting Falcon was also used as an aggressor aircraft.
The 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended that Naval Air Station Miramar be transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps due to the same commission recommending the closure the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro and Marine Corps Air Station Tustin. The commission also recommended that TOPGUN be moved to Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada. In 1996, TOPGUN was moved to Naval Air Station Fallon and integrated into the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center. The combined program is currently known as the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program. As the designation suggests, the purpose of TOPGUN is to teach fighter pilots dissimilar combat training tactics to bring back to their air wings to teach to other aviators.
Top Gun[]
In the movie, Jester explained the real-life origins of TOPGUN to the class. He noted that the air-to-air kill ratio of U.S. Navy aviators dropped from a high of 12:1 during the Korean War to a low of 3:1 during the early years of the Vietnam War. Jester explained that the drop was attributed to aviators' increased reliance on air-to-air missiles, and as a result, aviator's "lost some of their dogfighting skills. TOPGUN was created to teach ACM: air combat maneuvering. Dogfighting." Jester then noted that by the end of the Vietnam War, the Navy's air-to-air kill ratio was back up to 12:1.
Trainers[]
- Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf - Instructor
- Lieutenant Commander Rick "Jester" Heatherly - Instructor
- Charlotte Blackwood - Civilian contractor & instructor
Trainees[]
- Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell - Naval aviator
- Lieutenant (junior grade) Nick "Goose" Bradshaw - RIO
- Lieutenant Tom "Iceman" Kazansky - Naval aviator
- Lieutenant (junior grade) Ron "Slider" Kerner - RIO
- Lieutenant Rick "Hollywood" Neven - Naval aviator
- Lieutenant (junior grade) Leonard "Wolfman" Wolfe - RIO
- Lieutenant Charles "Chipper" Piper - Naval aviator
- Lieutenant (junior grade) Marcus "Sundown" Williams - RIO
Top Gun: Maverick []
In Top Gun, the principal plot revolved around U.S. Navy officers attending TOPGUN for the first time. In Top Gun: Maverick, the trainees have already graduated from TOPGUN and are part of a hand-picked special detachment being trained for a mission to destroy a Rogue Nation's uranium enrichment facility before it becomes operational.
Trainers[]
- Vice Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson - Mission leader
- Rear Admiral Solomon "Warlock" Bates - Mission leader
- Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell - Instructor and eventual team leader
- Warrant Officer 1 Bernie "Hondo" Coleman - Instructor
Trainees[]
- Lieutenant Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw - Naval aviator
- Lieutenant Natasha "Phoenix" Trace - Naval aviator
- Lieutenant Robert "Bob" Floyd - WSO
- Lieutenant Reuben "Payback" Fitch - Naval aviator
- Lieutenant Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia - WSO
- Lieutenant Jake "Hangman" Seresin - Naval aviator
- Lieutenant Javy "Coyote" Machado - Naval aviator
- Lieutenant Billy "Fritz" Avalone - Naval aviator
- Lieutenant Callie "Halo" Bassett - WSO
- Lieutenant Logan "Yale" Lee - Naval aviator
- Lieutenant Brigham "Harvard" Lennox - WSO
- Lieutenant Neil "Omaha" Vikander - Naval aviator
Notes[]
- In Top Gun, naval aviator LT Bill "Cougar" Cortell and his RIO LTJG Sam "Merlin" Wells from the USS Enterprise were initially selected to attend TOPGUN. Unfortunately, Cougar turned his wings in just prior to attending the school. Due to this, Maverick and Goose were sent from the Enterprise instead.
- Known first-in-class graduates include: Mike "Viper" Metcalf, Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, and Beau "Cyclone" Simpson.
- There have never been any trophies or rankings in the real TOPGUN. The competitiveness among trainees, already high cause the kind of personalities selected for the school plus their need to graduate, would push them into taking risks that could get them killed if, on top of all this, a trophy with ranking were added.
- In both movies, the TOPGUN school was filmed in multiple air bases for a few shots; Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (the former TOPGUN location), Naval Air Station Fallon, Naval Air Station North Island, and Naval Air Station Lemoore.
Gallery[]
