Brad Elward

TOPGUN: The Legacy

The exclusive and definitive look at the 50-year history of the Navy Fighter Weapons School. The history of air combat has seen one recurring theme—new tactics are learned in battle, forgotten or discarded when battle concludes, and relearned at great cost during the next war. This cycle continued into the 1960s, when America was drawn into the Vietnam War. Despite having a skill and equipment advantage, US Navy aircrews were faring poorly against North Vietnamese fighters. Air combat lessons learned during prior wars, and since forgotten or deemed inapplicable due to advances in technology, were once again relevant. TOPGUN, the Navy's Fighter Weapons School, was established in 1968 to teach Navy aircrews the core air combat tactics, to train others in those tactics, and to ensure that naval aviation "never again" forgot its lessons learned. TOPGUN: The Legacy provides a unique, detailed, and never-before-told history of the Navy Fighter Weapons School. Author Brad Elward constructed this history through the study of several thousand archival source documents. To go beyond the official history, Elward personally conducted more than 450 interviews with TOPGUN graduates, instructors, and commanding officers. This reprint edition includes text revisions and reinforced binding.