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• Topgun in the Mid-1980s: Building on the Legacy – Part Five

  In fighters, military, navy / 3 January 2014 / Comments are Disabled

  

  PART 5: Supplemental Notes Further Reading: Donald E. Auten’s Roger Ball! The Odyssey of John Monroe “Hawk” Smith, Navy Fighter Pilot, tells the story of an influential figure in Topgun and the Navy fighter community and provide additional information on topics covered in this article. Robert K. Wilcox’s Scream of Eagles is an exciting and detailed description of the Navy’s

  

• Topgun in the Mid-1980s: Building on the Legacy – Part Four

  In fighters, military, navy / 20 December 2013 / Comments are Disabled

  

  (Sporty F-5E joins on his flight lead seconds after takeoff from NAS Miramar.) PART 4: The Only Constant Is Change All organizations either evolve or expire, and NFWS is no exception. In the years and decades after I left, Topgun underwent many changes – some necessitated by the increasing complexity of warfare, while others were simply ideas whose time had

  

• Pearl Harbor 72 years after……………………..

  In Marines, military, navy, news / 7 December 2013 / Comments are Disabled

  

  he gentle Hawaiian breeze blows in from the Pacific, rolling over gentle waves and across beaches. Through palm trees, past coconuts and across grasses. Sweeping across a quiet lagoon the cool air crashes into cold hard gray steel. The waves below the air quietly lap against the hull of an Iowa class battleship. Basking in the warm Hawaiian sun, the

  

• Strange Bed Fellows

  In military, navy / 4 December 2013 / Comments are Disabled

  

  After the Cold War ended, The World took a left turn and was twisted into an atmosphere of pure weirdness. Old foes became friends, the Soviet Union broke up into at least a dozen different countries, and the world really began to look like it was becoming a true example of what the United Nations has been hoping for since

  

• Topgun in the Mid-1980s: Building on the Legacy – Part Three

  In fighters, military, navy / 27 November 2013 / 3 comments

  

  PART 3: Critical Decisions and Events of the Mid-1980s. I was an F-14 RIO who joined my first Fleet fighter squadron in 1981. In 1982 I attended the Topgun class as a student (by then it was five weeks), and in 1984 I was selected to return as an instructor. The following events and decisions occurred during my time as an instructor and contributed to Topgun’s evolution and continued validity.

• Topgun in the Mid-1980s: Building on the Legacy – Part Two

  In fighters, military, navy / 23 November 2013 / 3 comments

  

  PART 2: Topgun’s Early Years: the Foundation (Navy Fighter Weapons School F-5E Tiger II gets close for a photo.) When considering why Topgun flourished, much credit must go to the enduring culture established by the earliest instructors and handed down to their successors. They met the essential requirements for  a “school”: obtain accurate intelligence and develop effective tactics. The following