Air Force has operated a

The school was the end result of a study, published in May 1968, by USN Captain Frank Ault who, at the direction of the CNO, researched the failings of the US air to air missiles used in aerial combat in the skies over North Vietnam.[2] Operation Rolling Thunder, which lasted from 2 March 1965 to 1 November 1968, resulted in nearly 1,000 US aircraft losses in approximately one million sorties.[3] Operation Rolling Thunder became the Rorschach test for both the USN and the US Air Force, and from which they drew nearly opposite conclusions.[4] The USAF concluded that its air losses were primarily due to unobserved MiG attacks from the rear, and was therefore a technology problem. The Air Force focused on these "technical problems" with upgrades to their F4 Phantom II fleet, such as installing an internal 20mm Vulcan cannon (replacing the gun pods carried under the aircraft’s belly by Air Force Phantom units, such as the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing), developing improved airborne radar systems, and working to solve the targeting problems of the AIM9 and AIM7 airtoair missiles.The Navy, in what became known as the "Ault Report", came to the conclusion that inadequate aircrew training in air combat maneuvering (ACM) skills was the problem.[5] The conclusions of the "Ault Report" were not news to the F8 Crusader community, who had been lobbying for an ACM training program ever since the commencement of Rolling Thunder in 1965.[1]The Ault Report recommended establishment of an "Advanced Fighter Weapons School" to revive and disseminate community fighter expertise throughout the fleet. The school was initially formed using many F8 pilots as instructors,[6] and placed under the control of F4 Phantomequipped Replacement Air Group (RAG) unit VF121 "Pacemakers." At the time it received relatively scant funding and resources, and built its syllabus from scratch, while borrowing aircraft from its parent unit as well as other units to support the practical aspects of their operations.Its objective was to develop, refine and teach aerial dogfight tactics and techniques to selected fleet air crews, using the concept of Dissimilar Air Combat Training. DACT uses standin aircraft to realistically replicate expected threat aircraft and presently is widely used in air arms the world over. At that time the predominant threat aircraft were the nbuilt transonic MiG17 ’Fresco’ and the supersonic MiG21 ’Fishbed’.TOPGUN initially operated the A4 Skyhawk and borrowed USAF T38 Talons to simulate the flying characteristics of the MiG17 and MiG21, respectively. The school also made use of Marinecrewed A6 Intruders and USAF F106 aircraft when available. Later, the T38 was replaced by the F5E and F5F Tiger II. Navy Fleet Air Gunnery Units, or FAGU, had provided air combat training for Naval Aviators from the early 1950s until 1960, when a doctrinal shift, brought on by advances in missile, radar and fire control technology, contributed to the belief that the era of the classic dogfight was over, leading to their disestablishment.[9][10] The pilots who were part of the initial cadre of instructors at TOPGUN had experience as students from FAGU.[10]Air crews selected to attend the TOPGUN course were chosen from frontline units. Upon graduating, these crews would return to their parent fleet units to relay what they had learned to their fellow squadron matesin essence becoming instructors themselves.During the halt in the bombing campaign against North Vietnam (in force from 1968 until the early 1970s), TOPGUN established itself as a center of excellence in fighter doctrine, tactics and training. By the time aerial activity over the North resumed, most Navy squadrons had a TOPGUN graduate. According to the USN, the results were dramatic. The Navy killtoloss ratio against the North Vietnamese Air Force (NVAF) MiGs soared from 3.7:1 (19651967) to 13:1 (post 1970), while the Air Force, which had not implemented a similar training program, actually had its kill ratio worsen for a time after the resumption of bombing, according to Benjamin Lambeth’s The Transformation of American Airpower. Navy fighter crews vindicated the fledging DACT school’s existence and led to TOPGUN becoming a separate, fully funded command in itself, with its own permanently assigned aviation, staffing, and infrastructural assets. Successful TOPGUN graduates who scored airtoair kills over North Vietnam and returned to instruct included "Mugs" McKeown and Jack Ensch. aces of the Vietnam War, Randy "Duke" Cunningham and Willie Driscoll did not receive any official TOPGUN training. However during the course of their training with VF121 they did get the opportunity to fly against TOPGUN instructors whilst being taught how to operate the F4 Phantom at NAS Miramar.It was not until after the war in Vietnam ended that the Air Force initiated a robust DACT program with dedicated aggressor squadrons. The Air Force also initiated a program to replicate an aircrew’s first ten combat missions known as Red Flag, and the United States Air Force Weapons School also increased emphasis on DACT.The 1970s and 1980s brought the introduction of the F14 Tomcat and the F/A18 Hornet as the primary Fleet fighter aircraft flown by students, while TOPGUN instructors retained their A4s and F5s, but also added the F16 Fighting Falcon to better simulate the threat presented by the Soviet Union’s new 4th generation MiG29 ’Fulcrum’ and Su27 ’Flanker’ fighters. However, hard flying of the specially built F16N aircraft led to discovery of cracks in the airframe which led to the subsequent retirement of this asset. However, in 2002, the Navy began to receive 14 F16A and B models from the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC) that were originally intended for Pakistan before being embargoed. These aircraft (which are not designated F16N/TF16N) are operated by the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) / (TOPGUN) for adversary training and like their F16N predecessors are painted in exotic schemes.Largely due to the end of the cold war in the 1990s, the TOPGUN syllabus was modified to include more emphasis on the airtoground strike mission as a result of the expanding multimission taskings of the F14 and F/A18. In addition, TOPGUN retired their A4s and F5s in favor of F16s and F/A18s in the Aggressor Squadron. In 1996, the transfer of NAS Miramar to the Marine Corps was coupled with the incorporation of TOPGUN into the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) at NAS Fallon, Nevada. TOPGUN instructors currently fly the F/A18A/B/C Hornet and the F16A/B Falcon (former Pakistani aircraft never delivered due to embargo) that are assigned to NSAWC.TOPGUN conducts four "Power Projection" classes a year. Each class lasts nine weeks and consists of nine Navy and Marine Corps strike fighter aircrafta mix of singleseat F/A18 Cs and Es, and twoseat F/A18 Ds and Fs. The TOPGUN course is designed to train already experienced Navy and Marine Corps aircrews at the graduate level (although it is currently not a regionally or nationally accredited educational program) in all aspects of strikefighter aircraft employment, which includes tactics, hardware, techniques and the current world threat for airtoair and airtoground missions. The course includes eighty hours of lectures and twentyfive flights that pit students against TOPGUN instructors. When a pilot or WSO completes the TOPGUN course he/she will return as a Training Officer carrying the latest tactical doctrine back to their operational squadron, or go directly to an FRS squadron to teach new aircrews. SFTIs can also become instructors themselves at TOPGUN later in their career. Each year, a small number of aircrews do not wholesale jerseys meet TOPGUN’s standards and are dropped from the course.TOPGUN trains four to six Air Intercept Controllers in each class on advanced command, control, and combat communication skills. They are completely integrated in the course and participate in most of the training missions. These "AIC" students, some of whom are E2C Hawkeye Naval Flight Officers, go back to their Carrier Air Wings after graduation and are given the responsibility of training all the air controllers and fighters in their Carrier Strike Groups in the art of air intercept control.TOPGUN also conducts an Adversary Training Course, flying with adversary aircrew from each Navy and Marine Corps adversary squadron. These pilots receive individual instruction in threat simulation, effective threat presentation and adversary tactics. TOPGUN provides academics and flight training to each Carrier Air Wing during their Integrated and Advanced Training Phases (ITP/ATP) at NAS Fallon which are large scale exercises that can involve as many as fifty aircraft. These large scale exercises serve as "dress rehearsals" for future combat scenarios. In addition to training crews, TOPGUN also conducts ground school courses six times a year. The Training Officer Ground School (TOGS) offers graduate level academics to Fleet aviators, adversary instructors and other Wholesale NFL Jerseys officers and enlisted personnel.TOPGUN holds a StrikeFighter Tactics Refresher Course (also known as "ReBlue") once a year, usually in the fall, bringing current fleet SFTIs back to Fallon for a twoday refresher, updating TOPGUN’s recommendations.The TOPGUN course has changed over time. In the 1970s it was four weeks long, in the 1980s five weeks. The final F4 Phantoms went through the class in March 1985, and the final F14 Tomcats in October 2003. Programs formerly run by TOPGUN that have been transferred to other commands or discontinued include Fleet Air Superiority Training (FAST) and Hornet Fleet Air Superiority Training (HFAST): coordinated programs of academics and simulators, training fighter pilots and WSOs in Maritime Air Superiority in the carrier group arena. TOPGUN is a department (N7) under NSAWC as are several other formerly independent weapons schools for AEW (TOP DOME), JTAC (run by SEALs), "Strike U" (N5), Airborne Electronic Attack and Maritime Weapons Schools. Additional schools are resident at the Master Jet bases and designated as Type Wing Weapons Schools such as the Strike Fighter Weapons Schools at NAS Lemoore and NAS Oceana. Instructors and curriculum at these schools support the locally based squadrons and conduct unit level training. NSAWC conducts training for both individuals in the case of TOPGUN and provides Air Wing level training. As a designated center of excellence, NSAWC provides standardization for the entire Weapon School community sets standards/criteria for individual qualification.US Air ForceSince 1949, the United States Air Force has operated a similar training program at the United States Air Force Weapons School (formerly called the "United States Air Force Fighter Weapons School" and the "Aircraft Gunnery School"), and conducts largescale tactical training exercises (see Red Flag) at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Whereas the Navy’s Top Gun program is 9 weeks long, the US Air Force Weapons School program is five and a half months long. The program includes nearly every type of aircraft in the Air Force inventory as well as courses focused on intelligence, command and control, and space operations.US Marine CorpsThe Marine Corps operates Marine Aviation Weapons Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS1) at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma with an Adversary squadron, VMFT401, colocated at the base. MAWTS provides training for qualification of individual Weapons Tactics Instructors (WTI) that return to their squadrons as experts in employment of the aircraft and its weapons systems. The officers received from the Military Aviation School receive academic instruction and flight training aircraft in the AT63 Pampa advanced, and then integrate some of the operational squadrons of the Air Force.