Publisher's Weekly Review
In this fast-paced memoir, Dan "Yank" Pedersen, who cofounded the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School (widely known by its nickname "Topgun") in 1969, looks back at his 29-year Navy aviation career. Pedersen and the men who worked for and with him in Topgun developed innovative aerial combat tactics and techniques that significantly increased the effectiveness of American jet fighter pilots in the Vietnam War. Full of reflection and blow-by-blow accounts of wartime air combat action, the book is a paean to the "brotherhood" of "committed, driven,... crisp, smart, quick, deadly and confident" Topgun Navy fighter jet pilots. Pedersen includes a sharp critique of how the Johnson administration managed the air war in Vietnam, blasting LBJ and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara for micromanaging and for imposing stifling rules of engagement, and a word of praise for Tom Skerritt's character in the movie Topgun, who "captured the character of Topgun leadership." He also includes details of his two broken marriages and the large chunks of time he spent away from his three children-the "one regret" of his military career. This remembrance of aerial derring-do is sure to appeal to military aviators and fans of the world of fighter pilots, past and present. Agent: Jim Hornfischer, Hornfischer Literary Management. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A seasoned airman shares his legacy as a Navy fighter pilot.Pedersen, a distinguished military veteran known as the "Godfather of Topgun," is credited with establishing the Navy Fighter Weapons School. His memoir, a collection of captivating, action-packed anecdotes and pivotal events in his naval career, moves briskly through time spent with committed men dedicated to their "monastic calling." The author enlisted in 1956, and he covers his early years before moving into tales of Vietnam. As mounting losses and ineffective artillery, tactics, and leadership weakened America's defensive strategies in the 1960s, Pedersen recalls craving a fresh master plan to even the odds. Recognizing Pedersen's excellence in aerial gunnery and overall flight and defensive precision, the Navy selected him, then stationed at Miramar, California ("Fightertown USA"), to head up an air combat graduate school featuring eight other passionate and talented officers known as the "Original Bros." In describing the founding days of Topgun, the author details his selection of veteran pilots and a procedural curriculum to utilize the new MiG fighter jets. He also highlights the toll their call of duty took on marriages and families; regrets aside, "for us, flying always came first." Throughout the book, Pedersen ably conveys the immense camaraderie among the courageous brotherhood of American fighter pilots and conjures the excitement of daring aerial combat and weaponry maneuvers. He proudly notes that, at its 50th anniversary, the Topgun course remains the standard of excellence for providing air combat and weapons systems training. With the hot-seat velocity and cockpit realism of a military combat thriller, the author delivers exacting details and emotional acuity. Now 83, he admits to still experiencing the same visceral rush when seeing fighter aircraft zooming overhead as he did when he was a wartime naval aviator: "I can't fly anymore," he writes, "but my heart is still up there." Pedersen also includes a helpful glossary of terms and acronyms.A noble, thrillingly realized combat aviation memoir from one of America's finest. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
While you won't receive permission to buzz the tower from this memoir by the founder of the so-called Topgun navy fighter school, now celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, you will learn a dizzying array of facts about naval aviation and air-to-air combat. Former lieutenant commander Pedersen does allude to the 1986 movie starring Tom Cruise that made his school a household name, but his mission is to delve deeply into the poor state of dogfighting, technology, and rules of engagement over Vietnam that his U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School was designed to remedy. Topgun overcame bureaucratic inertia, institutional stubbornness, equipment shortages, and low morale to reimagine the art of dogfighting. Pederson shares personal stories of aerial combat and the larger-than-life pilots who joined him on his quest to return the navy's aviators to the dominant place they held before guided missiles promised but never quite delivered an end to the art of combat maneuvering. This is an exciting and well-written journey through more than five decades of naval and air-combat history and the service to which Pedersen devoted most of his life.--James Pekoll Copyright 2010 Booklist
