In 1969, nine men led by retired Navy Captain Dan Pedersen spent 60 days launching an educational institution that is now steeped in American naval aviation history. This school is now known as Navy Fighter Weapons School, TOPGUN. While only a small group of elite fighter pilots knew of the school’s existence in 1969, when Top Gun the movie created in 1986, no one could forget it.
According US Navy Blue Angels Facebook Page, in 1955, a young Pedersen enlisted in the United States Navy and began his journey in naval aviation with a ride in the backseat of a naval plane while serving aboard NAS Los Alamitos, in California. Fast forward to September 2021, it once again took to the skies above NAS Los Alamitos, but this time from the back of a The Blue Angels Jet. At our air show in Huntington Beach, where we had the privilege of flying Captain Pedersen, TOPGUN’s first commanding officer.
Captain Brian Kesselring, himself a former TOPGUN instructor and now Flight Leader and Commander of the Blue Angels, had the honor of taking TOPGUN1 for a spin. Joining them that day was the then commanding officer of TOPGUN, Cmdr. Mike Patterson, in command of a fleet F/A-18 Super Hornet.
With the recent release of Top Gun: Maverick, the Blue Angels thought it right to pay homage to the original TOPGUN. “While many are fascinated by the actors in the movies, to me the real celebrities are people like Captain Pedersen, those who paved the way and used their abilities to make us a more capable army,” said Captain Brian Kesselring. “Piloting this legendary naval aviator was a true honor and a great way to thank him for his contribution to our country.
The Navy’s Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Course – better known as TOPGUN – has a reputation for producing the best fighter pilots in the world.
His reputation precedes him now, but TOPGUN’s origin was much more humble. As Katie Lange, DOD News, recounts in the article It all started in a parking lot: TOPGUN’s story revealedinitially based out of a trailer in the parking lot of what was then Naval Air Station Miramar, California, the school became necessary to better train Navy fighter pilots in Vietnam.
Despite its technological advance, the Navy suffered unacceptable combat losses in Vietnam. In response, the service commissioned an investigation and assigned Captain(N) Frank Ault to lead the effort. The resulting report, known as the Ault Report, highlighted numerous performance shortcomings and their root causes, including the need for an advanced course to teach combat tactics. The result was the Navy Fighter Weapons School, established in Miramar in 1969.
Nicknamed TOPGUN, the school’s mission was – and still is – to train aircrews in all aspects of aerial combat to be conducted with the utmost professionalism. When it started, its students were trained for four weeks on F-4 Phantom II aircraft to get better at one-on-one dogfights, also known as dogfights.
Photo credit: US Navy
