Echoes of the Vietnam War

TOPGUN: Call Sign “Wildman”

Episode Summary

The United States Navy Fighter Weapons School — better known as TOPGUN — was established in 1969. Early TOPGUN graduates fanned out across the Navy’s fighter squadrons to share what they had learned about dogfighting, and the results were dramatic: according to the Navy, its kill-to-loss ratio against the North Vietnamese MiGs saw a sixfold improvement. In this episode you'll hear from a real TOPGUN graduate, a veteran who flew 150 combat missions in Vietnam.