F-4 Phantom F-14 Tomcat F/A-18 Hornet 1965 1975 2005 2015 1985 1968 Ault Report suggests new “Advanced Fighter Weapons School” 1969 First TOPGUN class arrives at Naval Air Station Miramar, San Diego, on March 3 1972 Navy MiG kill ratio in Vietnam rises to 12:1 from 2:1 1975 Mathematician Dr. Richard Oberle is first CNA analyst to work with TOPGUN 1981 Outer Air Battle tactics to protect the fleet from Soviet bombers occupy TOPGUN for a decade 1986 “Top Gun” is the highest grossing film of the year, featuring a fictional relationship between a fighter pilot and a CNA analyst. Applications for Navy flight training take off 1993 Air-to-ground strike tactics added to TOPGUN syllabus as threats change and fighter/attack jets become common 1993 Memorandum commits CNA to full-time field representative support to TOPGUN and TOPDOME 1995 1996 TOPGUN moves to NAS Fallon, Nevada, as part of new Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) 2003 Afghanistan, Iraq wars increase focus on precision strike tactics for close air support of ground forces. 2018 National Defense Strategy and great power competition accelerate renewed focus on air-to-air warfighting tactics 2019 TOPGUN turns 50, prepares for arrival of F-35C Lightning II (expected 2020) 2015 NSAWC is expanded and renamed Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center (NAWDC) January 1973 Vietnam War Ends 1981 Libya 1989 Libya 1983 Lebanon/Syria 1991 Desert Storm 1995 Bosnia 2014 Syria 2003 Iraq 2001 Afghanistan KEY NAVAL AVIATION OPERATIONS TOPGUN TURNS 50