Past and Present Best of Best Meet at Top Gun

NAVAL AIR STATION FALLON, Nev. (NNS) -- "Good morning. My name is Lt. Rob Simone, and I'm an instructor here at the Navy's Fighter Weapons School."

Simone has been giving that same introduction to tour groups visiting the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) here for nearly a year, since assuming duties as tour briefing officer for Top Gun.

His lecture continued with personal accounts of teaching students to master the art of dog fighting, along with facts and other interesting points about the rigorous graduate-level training students experience at Top Gun and other NSAWC schools.

"Now I'd like to find out a little more about you and what you did in the service," Simone said to the group.

From the rear of the auditorium, a man slowly rose to his feet and began to recount the accomplishments of the 357th Fighter Group, also known as the "Oxford Boys," while dog-fighting and escorting bombers over the skies of Berlin during World War II.

"Right away, I was in awe," said Simone.

"Does anyone in here have a kill?" he asked.

The same voice erupted from the audience, "Bud does. As a matter of fact, he has 16 and a quarter kills to be exact."

"All I could say was 'Wow,'" Simone remarked.

Retired Air Force Col. C.E. "Bud" Anderson, 80, began his aviation career in 1944 at age 21. He flew the P-51 Mustang, a single engine prop-fighter, over German skies protecting vulnerable allied bombers from agile Nazi fighters. Armed with guns only, he flew 116 combat missions, shooting down 16 aircraft without being hit himself.

Simone and other Top Gun instructors believe these deadly air-to-air battles are the roots of what Top Gun teaches its aviators today.

"There is no question what Bud and his comrades did in WWII has influenced everyone here," said Simone. "The basics are still the same. You have to do everything in your power to get on his six."

The Oxford Boys were extremely good at getting on the six o'clock of the Germans.

From early 1944 to late 1945, the men of the 357th shot down a record 597 enemy aircraft, 16 of which can be attributed to Anderson. Overall, the group had an impressive five-to-one kill ratio.

"Only one of us on the staff of Top Gun has a kill," Simone said. "I wish we could have had several instructors in the auditorium to listen to these men and their experiences."

The purpose of Top Gun is to equip the Navy's best fighter pilots with the expert skills needed to succeed under today's extreme air-to-air combat conditions, where each split-second decision is life-threatening.

"When I made the decision to join the armed services, we didn't get any combat training," said Anderson. "Combat was our training."

That method of training was extremely costly. Nearly 100 Oxford Boys lost their lives, and 70 of them were shot down and became prisoners of war during a 14-month span.

Schools like Top Gun have changed those statistics. And, although Simone admits the number of bandits to our pilots is not quite what it was, the threat remains dead serious.

Students attending the nine-week course at NSAWC are subjected to a rigorous training cycle pitting them against, and with, Top Gun instructors.

"Our graduates are the finest in the world," said Simone. "We give them the best training by incorporating assets from all branches of our military, and introduce them to several international category four threats, such as the German MIG 29."

While the face of air-to-air combat has changed, some things have not.

During Simone's brief, Anderson asked him what he thought about moving Top Gun school from the San Diego area to Naval Air Station Fallon.

"He answered my question correctly," said Anderson

"He told me if this is where the flying is, he wants to be here. That hasn't changed over the years. The passion aviators have for flying will never change. We love what we do," said Anderson

For related news, visit the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/nsawc.