What an incredible story. I was first introduced to the notion of reading Tom Gun after watching a YouTube interview of my VF-31 Tomcat Skipper from the early eighties. Well, CAPT Petersen happened to be my first Skipper when I reported aboard the USS RANGER as a new Airman Recruit from Basic Training at Great Lakes, IL. CAPT Dan enlightened my day every morning with the “Good Morning RANGER men!” greeting. He was a highly regarded CO and after reading his wonderful story I can certainly understand why. Throughly enjoyed this book!

Great story for those of us who wanted to be Naval aviators but got stuck in our real life.my life could not have been better,but I always wanted to land a plane on an aircraft carrier.Istill have my TOPGUN hat given to me by my nurse

Good bits on the origins and evolution of Top Gun, but suffers from an ill-focused narrative that is more about the author than the subject. Still a good read with many unique insights into the history of the storied fighter school.

I’m not a naval aviator, unfortunately, all I can claim is to have read a lot about a great many great ones. Not only is this book well written and rich with historical content there are many lessons in here either to be learned or confirmed. I was born in 1959, that “tweener” generation at the end of the “boomers” a bit too young to have served in Vietnam but old enough to remember the “body counts” on the 6 o’clock news. This is not just a story about Top Gun, it is an intelligent and lucid commentary on both the past and present. Read this, really read it, pay attention, if it doesn’t make you think, soul search, and question then you really ought to go have a hard look at yourself in the mirror.

On March 3, 1969; Captain Daniel Pedersen, U.S. Navy and a small group of elite U.S. Naval Aviators called the “Original Bros.” founded the Fighter Weapons School based at NAS Miramar. Topgun was where America’s Best-of-the-Best refined their skills in Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) or “DOGFIGHTING”! This monumental book; “TOP GUN: An America Story” chronicles the early days of a combat flight training facility for U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators. Due to the situation in the skies over Vietnam; Captain Pedersen’s mission was to restore air superiority and victory in the air. The 50th Anniversary of its inception as the epitome of Naval Combat Flight Training is commemorated with this personal memoir written for all Americans; to be proud of all the men and women in uniform serving in the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps! Thank you Captain Pedersen for sharing the true story of America’s finest: TOP GUN!