Robin going from being so nervous coming out to Steve to getting her first girlfriend, who she can be open with and truly in love and to now be mentoring and giving advice to a fellow queer kid who she knows is in the same position as she was and reminding him that he’s not alone.
TOPGUN reference info/cheat sheet for fic writers!
collected from gov. sources (TOPGUN itself + recruitment info + options for Navy careers), Reddit threads/answers from Naval aviators, and my Navy veteran father
this started because i was upset at the amount of misinformation i found in fics, because i'm autistic and once i know something is wrong i just. vibrate and spin like i'm being microwaved. even though i love and adore fic writers (i am one) with all my heart, i know that:
it's not that big of a deal to get stuff wrong
we do this for funsies (re: 1)
it doesn't make me love a fic less
none of us are experts on the military
& me offering a treasure-trove of information, reference points, and history to add into fics/headcannons/character studies is akin to delivering 4 dozen bouquets of roses to one's door. so that's what imma do. TIME TO LOCK TF IN
disclaimer: i've been told my tone can come off as combative and disingenuous in these instances, so please know that is absolutely not my intention. if you don't want to keep reading and discover what you may or may not be writing "incorrectly", then simply ✨don't✨ and let me talk to a wall in peace. or do, idc. just be kind in the comments/notes. and if i get something wrong, please please please tell me, just do so politely <3 if this is helpful, and i hope it will be (especially to those of us with multi chap wips), rb to help a writer!!
this favors TG:M in terms of character information and notes about realism, mainly because TG:M is more my writing jam than the original and i find most of these "problems" in TG:M-related fics. there are some headcannons i detail in order to illustrate options to fill in the gaps of canon + why i think so :)
starting off with locations, basic info, and a brief timeline
unless otherwise specified (this goes for the whole post), this is accurate to the real-world: not just the movies
TOPGUN is a nickname for what started as United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, now known as the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program. it doesn't matter if you spell it as TOPGUN or Top Gun, i just like to use the previous to make it easier to distinguish between the program and the movies. the nickname came from the concept that only the top 1% of aviators get into TOPGUN, but more on that in a second!
TOPGUN was originally based out of at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, which is relatively close to San Diego, California (USMC [Marine Corps] is a part of the Navy)
TOPGUN then moved to Naval Air Station (abbreviated to NAS) Fallon in Nevada in 1996. so given the canon ages of the Dagger Squad (30s), none of them would've been to Miramar to attend TOPGUN.
"Top Gun Maverick" is set at NAS North Island in San Diego, CA. it is not in Miramar or at TOPGUN though San Diego is quite close!!! Warlock states that everyone in the squadron/training detachment are TOPGUN graduates: "the best of the best"
now for a brief interrupting note on movie-specific and real-world contradictions:
there are no rankings or "winners" in the real TOPGUN. the nature of it (post-graduate program) is already incredibly intensive and competitive due to everyone's skill level. these people are smart as hell and have to work their asses off studying and flying. they likely wouldn't spend as much time hanging out and having fun as they do in Top Gun (1986), but that would make for a much more boring movie. students wouldn't be nearly as ego-driven or arrogant as Hangman exemplifies years after he graduates. students have to be humble and willing to learn in order to not, well…die.
this is where the real-world and headcannons can work against each other, but personally, i think there's really creative ways to make them mesh. i headcannon that Jake, though he's always flown somewhat fast and loose, has become more like "Hangman" through circumstances up to interpretation. along the same vein, Bradley wouldn't have made it through TOPGUN as careful as he flies in TG:M—i think some extrapolating is necessary to understand his flying style, too.
from my research, a lot of aviators agree that Maverick's flying style/behavior (outside of what we see in TG:M, which is flat-out unrealistic for him to be flying at that age, regardless of skill) is incredibly dangerous and would never fly (haha) through primary flight training, let alone TOPGUN and onwards. but this post isn't about how accurate these movies are, so let's move on!
onto some more tricky parts about career timelines and Dagger Squad history
some of this might seem obvious, but this is also intended to be a cheat sheet for writers, so skim as necessary!
nowhere in TG:M is it stated when any of the Daggers went to TOPGUN or who knows who. it does, however, imply that Javy and Jake are friends (fanon consensus is best friends); that Javy, Natasha, Jake, and Bradley know each other; and that Natasha, Mickey, and Reuben know each other. Reuben is the one to call out, by name, the callsigns of the other aviators as they arrive at the Hard Deck, and since they're far enough away to not be able to read their last names on their uniforms, we can assume that he knows them at least in passing. it's possible based on his reactions during Jake and Bradley's interaction that he knows Jake in passing and knows Bradley to some degree; he seems not entirely shocked but just awkwardly breezing past the situation when speaks after the "I am good" line. Daggers that do not know each other is Bob and the other main characters + Mickey and Reuben don't know Javy (and likely Jake). (here's a youtube link for the entire Hard Deck scene if you want a refresh)
further elaboration: Jake and Nat's acquaintance is obvious from their greeting ("if it ain't Phoenix" + "fellas, this here's Bagman"), which is then followed by Nat saying "hey, Coyote" to Javy. Javy asks who her friends are; considering they arrived together (or at least walked over to Jake and Javy together), that leads us to assume that those three do, indeed, know each other. none of them know who Bob is, obviously. then we have the peacocking that is Hangman during "Slow Ride" (sort of a side note but it bugs me when people think he played the song after walking away from Bradley when you can clearly hear it playing while they're talking. anyway.) and the whole "you look good" and "I am good" thing. if that isn't enough to convince you that they know each other, we have Nat saying "[Jake] hasn't changed" and Bradley responding with "sure hasn't." there is also a shot just before this (GIF below) with Javy appearing to hold back a smile right before Nat walks up to Bradley. the four of them know each other well enough to parse out the details of the interaction/dynamic while Reuben, Mickey, and Bob appear to have no idea what's going on.
the movie does reference (i think in their personnel files in Maverick's first scene with Cyclone? not sure. definitely on their flight suit patches tho) what fighter squadrons each of the Daggers was on prior to this training detachment. i've organized them according to the NAS that they're based out of + the wing that refers to what aircraft carrier they're attached to. if you really wanna know that part, check out the wikipedia pages for the VFA (specifically on the sidebar with info where it tells you the wing) and it should tell you the current carrier by name :)
Lemoore (CA; 6 hours north of North Island/San Diego)
Jake "Hangman" Seresin: VFA-151 Vigilantes (Carrier Air Wing 9)
Javy "Coyote" Machado: VFA-86 Sidewinders (Carrier Air Wing 11)
Natasha "Phoenix" Trace: VFA-41 Black Aces (Carrier Air Wing 9)
Reuben "Payback" Fitch: VFA-125 Rough Raiders
Robert "Bob" Floyd: VFA-51 Screaming Eagles (note: this strike fighter squadron is no longer active and i couldn't find info on where it was stationed most recently. due to Nat's dialogue ["You're my new backseater? From Lemoore?"], we can assume it's Lemoore, though it's unclear why she'd phrase it this way when her VFA is also stationed out of Lemoore)
Callie "Halo" Bassett: VFA-22 Fighting Redcocks (Carrier Air Wing 17)
Billy "Fritz" Avalone: VFA-2 Bounty Hunters (Carrier Air Wing 2)
Neil "Omaha" Vikander: VFA-136 Knighthawks (Carrier Air Wing 1)
Oceana (Virginia Beach, VA)
Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw: VFA-87 Golden Warriors (Carrier Air Wing 8)
Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia: VFA-143 Pukin Dogs (Carrier Air Wing 1)
Logan "Yale" Lee and Brigham "Harvard" Lennox: VFA-11 Red Rippers
based on this info, we know that none of these characters (outside of Yale and Harvard) are on the same squadron. therefore the sets/groups that know each other would've interacted before these assignments! the “closest” any of these would come to each other are Jake and Natasha; their squadrons are attached to the same carrier. it's possible that most of this happens by nature of being at the same NAS, though with deployments to contend with, you could assume that some of them might've interacted more regularly (on a carrier, another NAS in the past, or on the same VFA).
note on Reuben's squadron, VFA-125: this is part of the Joint Strike Fighter Wing, the Navy's 5th-gen fighter squadron wing. they oversee 4 different squadrons that fly 5th-gens (F-35C Lightning II) and is home to the west coast FRS (Fleet Replacement Squadron). the FRS is a unit that trains Naval aviators, aircrewmen, and Naval Flight Officers, aka NFOs. students within an FRS are newly winged, aviators going from one aircraft to another, or are returning to the cockpit after not flying for an indeterminate period of time. an FRS is for training prior to being assigned an operational fleet squadron (they also train aircraft mechanics and standardize some technical stuff for the Navy's aircrafts). this doesn't necessarily mean Reuben has the youngest career; any one of these reasons may apply because VFA-125 is the only FRS in the Navy that flies an F-35C Lightning II, so it's very possible that Reuben is merely transitioning into flying a 5th-gen fighter jet and needs additional training. canonically, the implications of this are that Reuben is the most technically qualified person in this training detachment and would've almost guaranteed Maverick picking him. it's certainly why he would've been picked for the detachment (if you trust the writers this much, anyway) in addition to his TOPGUN scores in-universe. he's the only Dagger that's probably ever flown a 5th-gen while the rest of them fly a F/A 18 (E or F, the latter being a tandem seat), which is a 4.5 generation fighter.
with all that being said!
here's a timeline for what it would be like to become a Naval aviator, including TOPGUN, and therefore where the Dagger Squad members are in their career—based on research + chatting with my dad for estimations made on the character ages, ranks, and ribbons seen on their uniforms!
from the start of your Naval career, it takes 4-5 years minimum to get to TOPGUN. it would start with either graduating USNA or another four-year college with a related degree/major (engineering would be one) and then actually entering the Navy. Officer Candidate School (OCS) is the way to do this and become an enlisted officer. do not quote me on this but i think ROTC is a viable alternative to OCS. i do not claim to know exactly how this “first step” goes in terms of enlistment, just the timeline :)
after OCS, which you'll have to complete with top grades, you'll receive your Commission as an Ensign
pass primary flight training (top grades again)
get selected for strike/fighter jet training and pass that (basic + advanced) with top grades again
yay you have your wings!!
orders for your first VFA—complete that tour with top everything. physical shape/fitness, the whole nine yards. go the distance
all of which will take approximately 4.5 years (in addition to the 4 year degree!) and you now have a shot, based on experience alone, at getting into TOPGUN. now, given our characters' ages and assuming that they got into OCS at 22-24 (after 4 years of USNA or another college, starting at 18 and ending at 20), they've been in the Navy anywhere from 10-15 years (10 years putting them at 32 years old; 15 closer to 38, Bradley's age). it's up to interpretation, of course, on when between that 5-10+ year mark they went to TOPGUN, but it is 100% not past that point because they're all graduates by the time of TG:M. now most TOPGUN graduates go on to weapons schools to provide training before they’re ever deployed themselves, so if we wanna get technical, these assignments were likely not given right after graduation; they're the recent assignments before being called for this detachment.
a bit of an outlier is Bradley, for obvious reasons. now it is feasible that someone could deny his USNA application (it's somewhat difficult to get in; you need a congressmen’s signature i’m pretty sure) and that Maverick had something to do with that, but it wouldn't have set Bradley back 4 years. not even close. assuming he had good enough grades to get into USNA, he would've been able to get into UVA (where he went canonically) at 18, taken 4 years to get a degree there, and made it into the Navy just fine. a lot of people do that. USNA is not the only path to become an aviator. but because we have his dialogue + his birth year (which is canonically 1984 but there's no way he was only 2 based on the clips of Bradley in 1986, so believe what you want about that) putting him at 38 years old at the time of TG:M, he probably made it into OCS at 26 instead of 22 (2012). now Bradley being unable to go to USNA likely gave him a bit of a crisis—he stopped talking to Maverick and probably other Navy folks in association with him, it's implied Carole died before he was 18 so he wouldn't have had her either, and all of a sudden he had to find new purpose amidst his grief. i like to headcannon that he either found work/lived with an aunt/uncle/grandparent either directly after high school for 4 years before he went to UVA or got 2 bachelor's degrees. the first of which would be the canonical Political Science and the second would come after he graduated and his crisis was over, leading him to realize that he could get a degree specific to being able to become an aviator (& a second BA wouldn’t have taken him 4 years, it would’ve been 2-3 depending on transferring credits or how close his second degree was academically to his first). OR to the or, he got his BA in polisci at 22 and then had this same realization, working to get professional experience that would help him become an aviator. the problem is that for OCS, a degree is vital, so that last option probably wouldn't apply. he could've just gone into the Navy regardless if he hadn't picked polisci as a major, but i digress. if it weren't for Bradley's dialogue about the 4 year delay than we could assume he's been in the Navy for 4 years longer than the other Daggers. pick and choose what you like tbh!
and i think that is all for now. i've double & triple checked most of this info/post, had a friend proofread, yada yada, so fingers crossed there isn't anything that makes me tumblr infamous. not that i think i'm that important to begin with, but you never know. c'est la vie, rb if you like, and be kind with any disagreements/corrections (which i am happy to hear) :)
