TOP GUN: AN AMERICAN STORY

TOP GUN: AN AMERICAN STORY by Dan Pedersen

With the recent success of the Top Gun Maverick movie, I immediately picked up this book when I spotted it on the shelf in a bookstore. Curious to learn more about the "real" Top Gun and not just the glamorized movie edition, I dove into this book with not a lot of expectations on the behind the scenes truth. I was very pleasantly surprised. It takes just a bit to get the ball rolling, but once it does, Dan Pederson takes us in and helps us understand the conditions that the Navy was dealing with during the time of the Vietnam War, especially with their air power. No longer the powerhouse it had once been, it was clear that drastic changes needed to happen. With very little help monetarily and equipment wise, Dan Pederson was chosen to be the senior officer of a new program that many people expected to fail. Pederson chose 8 other men he had had the privilege of working with while flying for the Navy, and began the Top Gun program at the Naval Station in Miramar in 1969. The results were astounding, and it quickly became the elite air combat training school that caused a revolution in how our Navy pilots engaged in battle.

Overall, this is a read that I highly recommend especially if you are interested in the military, Vietnam War, or history in general.

HEADS UP- Extremely light sprinkling of language. Maybe 5 words at most. No F- bombs. There is mention of drinking and women, but the details are kept at a distance. Just that it would happen when they would pull into port, etc. There are some pilots that don't make it home. There are no gory or intense details. Just the motivation to make a program better.