The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat,single-engine,all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide electronic warfare and intelligence,surveillance,and reconnaissance capabilities. Lockheed Martin is the prime F-35 contractor,with principal partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. The aircraft has three main variants:the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35A,the short take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) F-35B,and the carrier-based (CV/CATOBAR) F-35C.
Jeffrey Shears Ashby is an American mechanical engineer,and former naval officer and aviator,test pilot and NASA astronaut,a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions. He is a retired Captain in the U.S. Navy. He currently works for Blue Origin as chief of mission assurance.
Naval Air Station Fallon or NAS Fallon is the United States Navy's premier air-to-air and air-to-ground training facility. It is located southeast of the city of Fallon,east of Reno in western Nevada. Since 1996,it has been home to the U.S. Navy-Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) taking over from the former NAS Miramar,California,and the surrounding area contains 240,000 acres (97,000 ha) of bombing and electronic warfare ranges. It is also home to the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center (NAWDC),which includes TOPGUN,the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Weapons School (CAEWWS) and the Navy Rotary Wing Weapons School. Navy SEAL Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) training also takes place there.
The United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program,more popularly known as Top Gun,is a United States Navy training program that teaches air combat maneuvering tactics and techniques to selected naval aviators and naval flight officers,who return to their operating units as surrogate instructors.
Scott Francis O'Grady is a former United States Air Force fighter pilot. On June 2,1995,he was shot down over Bosnia and Herzegovina by a 2K12 Kub mobile SAM launcher and forced to eject from his F-16C into hostile territory. US Marines from heavy-helicopter squadron HMH-464 and the 24 MEU(SOC) on AC number 21 eventually rescued O'Grady after nearly a week of his evading the Bosnian Serbs. He was previously involved in the Banja Luka incident where he fired upon six enemy aircraft. The 2001 film Behind Enemy Lines is loosely based upon his experiences.
James Norman Mattis is an American military veteran who served as the 26th United States secretary of defense from 2017 to 2019. A former Marine Corps four-star general,he commanded forces in the Persian Gulf War,the War in Afghanistan,and the Iraq War.
William Patrick "Willy Irish" Driscoll is a retired commander in the United States Navy and a flying ace. Driscoll,a Naval Flight Officer,and aircrewmate Duke Cunningham,a Naval Aviator,were their service's only aces of the Vietnam War. They remain the Navy's most recently minted aces.
The Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center was formerly known as the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Fallon located in the city of Fallon in western Nevada. It is the center of excellence for naval aviation training and tactics development. NAWDC provides service to aircrews,squadrons and air wings throughout the United States Navy through flight training,academic instructional classes,and direct operational and intelligence support. The name was changed from NSAWC to NAWDC in June 2015 to align with the naming convention of the Navy's other Warfighting Development Centers (including Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center,Naval Information Warfighting Development Center,and the Undersea Warfighting Development Center.
John B. Nathman is a retired United States Navy admiral who served as the Commander,United States Fleet Forces Command until 17 May 2007.
Charles Frank "Chic" Burlingame III was the Captain of American Airlines Flight 77,the aircraft that was crashed by terrorists into the Pentagon during the September 11 attacks.
Patrick Michael Walsh is a former United States Navy four-star admiral who last served as the 59th Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet from September 25,2009 to January 20,2012. He served as the 35th Vice Chief of Naval Operations from April 5,2007 to August 13,2009,and as Commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and Commander,U.S. 5th Fleet from October 2005 to February 27,2007. He retired from the Navy with over 34 years of service.
Gerald Roger Beaman is a retired Vice Admiral in the United States Navy and an ex Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Robert Orton Work is an American national security professional who served as the 32nd United States Deputy Secretary of Defense for both the Obama and Trump administrations from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that,Work was the United States Under Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2013,and before that served as a colonel in the United States Marine Corps;Work retired in 2001 and worked as a civilian at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) and the George Washington University in various positions relating to military and strategic study. From 2013 to 2014,he was the CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). After his time as Deputy Secretary of Defense,he went on to serve on the board of Raytheon. As of October 2023,he serves on the Special Competitive Studies Project's board of advisors.
David Lee Goldfein is a retired United States Air Force four-star general who last served as the 21st chief of staff of the Air Force. He previously served as the vice chief of staff of the Air Force and,prior to that,he served as the director of the Joint Staff,a position within the Joint Chiefs of Staff who assists the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Goldfein retired from the Air Force on October 1,2020,after over 37 years of service.
John Christopher Aquilino is an admiral in the United States Navy,serving as the commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command since April 30,2021. He previously served as the commander of the United States Pacific Fleet and before that,commander of the United States Fifth Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces.
Brett Elliott Crozier is a retired captain in the United States Navy. A United States Naval Academy graduate,he became a naval aviator,first flying helicopters and then switching to fighters. After completing naval nuclear training,he served as an officer on several aircraft carriers. In spring 2020,he was commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt when COVID-19 broke out among the crew. He was relieved of command by then-acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly after sending a letter to Navy leaders asking that most of the crew be taken ashore which was subsequently leaked to the press. Crozier himself was also later diagnosed with the virus. He was reassigned to a shore position and retired in March 2022.
The Pentagon UFO videos are selected visual recordings of FLIR targeting from United States Navy fighter jets based aboard aircraft carriers USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt in 2004,2014 and 2015,with additional footage taken by other Navy personnel in 2019. The four grainy,monochromic videos,widely characterized as officially documenting UFOs,have received extensive coverage in the media since 2017. The Pentagon later addressed and officially released the first three videos of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) in 2020,and confirmed the provenance of the leaked 2019 videos in two statements made in 2021. Footage of UAPs was also released in 2023,sourced from MQ9 military drones.
Dan Pedersen is a retired United States Navy Captain,credited as being the leading force behind the creation of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School program known as “TOPGUN”.
Richard Thomas Brophy Jr. is a United States Navy rear admiral and naval aviator who serves as Chief of Naval Air Training since July 19,2022. He most recently served as commander of Carrier Strike Group 4 from May 17,2021,to July 8,2022. He previously served as commander of the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center from May 2019 to May 2021,with commands of Carrier Air Wing 9 from January 2015 to June 2016 and Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 115 from 2007 to 2009.
Dale Snodgrass was a United States Navy aviator and air show performer who according to the Spokane Spokesman-Review was considered one of the greatest fighter pilots of all time.
