Brian2by2 said:
The Top Gun is the top 1% of fighter pilots in the navy. They are enrolled in an elite training program and resume normal combat sorties afterwards i believe.
Correct, minus the top 1% thing.
While the air force has several fighters (F16, F15 being the most popular), they deal more with transporting, radar, reconasaince I believe?
The USAF and the Navy both have a very similar number of aircraft. True, the Air Force does operate the bulk of our military's transport aircraft, and they also have the vast majority of air refueling planes as well. However, we have many, many fighter- type aircraft in our inventory, and the Navy operates their own fleet of radar (E-2) aircraft.
Originally posted by NSXSAN
Top Gun is a specialized school in the Navy that trains in the art of dog-fighting technique. The Air Force has a similar program in Red Flag at Nevada. Only above average pilots and senior officers are allowed to teach at these programs. Most fighter pilots in the AF or Navy at one time or another have to go through these school to sharpen their skills.
Top Gun, in itself, is the Navy Fighter Weapons Course. The Air Force Equivalent is the USAF Fighter Weapons School, not Red Flag. While both the USAF FWS and Red Flag both occur at Nellis AFB, Nevada, they are separate entities. The USAF FWS is meant to train the best and brightest in the USAF to become instructors at their home bases, just as the Navy Top Gun course does for their pilots. Red Flag, on the other hand, is a large-scale exercise meant to train ALL of the USAF's pilots in the fine art of tactical employment in a big war.
As for "instructors" in Red Flags, there are many FWS graduates on both sides of the war. On the "red" side (the bad guys,) there are the USAF Agressor pilots who's job is to replicate enemy tactics. Not all Agressors are FWS graduates, and they also get outside support for most Red Flags. I've flown as both Red and Blue Air in Red Flags, and I'm not an FWS Graduate.
All of that being said, being a graduate of either Top Gun or the USAF FWS doesn't necessarily mean that you're the best pilot. It just means that you are one of the best
instructors. FWS Students are taught from day one how to instruct their squadron mates in how to be better fighter pilots, not whip their butts in "king of the cage" dogfighting matches. I currently work with many FWS and Top Gun patch wearers, and their skills as aviators really shine after the flight during the debrief when they can convey their knowledge to the rest of us.
The Air Force pilots fly to where ever it is they need to go, where as the Navy pilots have that giant structure to carry them around. The name for that structure is: "Aircraft Carrier."
LOL!
