Will we finally get to see Penny Benjamin?

So, Ed Harris, nearly 70 is a 2-star however Jon Hamm who's 48 and younger than Tom Cruise, is a 3-star...

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In real life, wouldn't a Navy Captain who hadn't progressed in rank be forced to retire long before he hit 30 years in service?

IIRC, mandatory retirement for O6s is at the 30 year mark; flag officers go beyond that. I'm sure there are exceptions for O6s beyond 30 years; I knew of one Armor officer back in 1984 at Fort Knox.

Maybe Maverick is like Captain Kirk in "Star Trek"; better suited as a starship captain than an admiral.

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Originally posted by 2000Z-71:
Will we finally get to see Penny Benjamin?

I hope she doesn't look like Ed Harris.

I’ve figured it out: this is actually a remake of Firefox but set in the Navy universe rather than Air Force. Hence the need for a black pressure suit.

I'll probably watch it, but Cruise being a 56 YO Captain is ridiculous. Let's not forget he was already a LT (senior grade) in the 1986 movie, so he could not have been commissioned later than 1981, and that is a push. More like 1980, so he's likely pushing 40 years of service.

All of the stated, this would have been a good remake 10 years ago.

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Originally posted by Orguss:
I’ve figured it out: this is actually a remake of Firefox but set in the Navy universe rather than Air Force. Hence the need for a black pressure suit.

They couldn't figure out the O2 problems in the newer planes so, instead they had the pilots wear pressure suits instead.

Cruise is in pretty good shape for his age, but this film is ridiculous. I can imagine the complex plot.
Casting older men in a young mans role just perpetuates stupid fantasies.

I'll see it.

"Because I was Inverted..."

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Originally posted by 2000Z-71:
Will we finally get to see Penny Benjamin?

It's not Jennifer Connelly, is it?

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Cruise is in pretty good shape for his age, but this film is ridiculous. Casting older men in a young mans role just perpetuates stupid fantasies.

My dad was an attack jet mechanic at Alameda NAS. He would complain about those stoic square-jawed 40-year-old pilots that he saw in old war movies. Dad would say, "Those aren't fighter pilots. Pilots are a bunch of young rowdy cocky kids." I took him to see Top Gun when it came out, and he was like, "Yeah, THOSE are more like fighter pilots."

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Originally posted by myrottiety:
I'll see it.

"Because I was Inverted..."

That was a great scene

I think maybe my wife and I are going to have to watch Top Gun tonight.

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Originally posted by 229DAK:
Maybe Maverick is like Captain Kirk in "Star Trek"; better suited as a starship captain than an admiral.

Of course he's not admiral material. He's not going to be happy if he's not going Mach 2 with his hair on fire.

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Originally posted by PASig:

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Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

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Originally posted by PASig:

In real life, wouldn't a Navy Captain who hadn't progressed in rank be forced to retire long before he hit 30 years in service?

A Captain in the Navy is an O6. He should probably be at least a Rear Admiral by then, but it's still a fairly high rank.

Yes, I know that.

Still, an O-6 at 30 years? I don't think so.

Had a good friend mustang USAF Full Bird go out with 37 years total ACTIVE service in 2018.

Do you know what the original Top Gun did? It kicked, in the ass, a high interest in our young folks joining the service. Some would fly, others would fix air conditioners, some would get to be mechanics on aircraft on a carrier or someone like my girlfriend at 18. She went in and ended up working on the flight deck of a carrier. If it was reality it’d be a documentary. This will be a fun film. And who doesn’t enjoy getting to see our military aircraft doing cool shit? That alone is worth seeing it. And if you don’t like looking at Jennifer maybe you need to start attending your local gay parade.

This thread is in desperate need for speed, specifically the Blue Angels and Van Halen.

https://youtu.be/d5PqVeex4QU

I can just see the rush of 50 year old guys wanting to enlist.

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Originally posted by navyshooter:

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Originally posted by redstone:
There are stories that circulated a while back that they resurrected one just for the movie. And it is seen in the final shot . . .
Iconic F-14

I can confirm that. They filmed a lot of the movie on North Island and driving to lunch one day I saw a F14 sitting on the CVN at the pier. I had to turn around and go back to make sure I saw what I thought I saw.

I will see it in the theater then.

Is it possible for a Navy Admiral or an Air Force General to remain fighter jet certified? Is it considered beneath them and they don't do it anymore or will .mil not expend the resources to allow them to maintain whatever required flight hours are needed?

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Originally posted by Scuba Steve Sig:
Is it possible for a Navy Admiral or an Air Force General to remain fighter jet certified? Is it considered beneath them and they don't do it anymore or will .mil not expend the resources to allow them to maintain whatever required flight hours are needed?

Wing Commanders at the local B-1B base still fly getting their flight pay qualifying hours in. They're O-6s with many promoted to 0-7 still here until their transfer comes through.

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Is it possible for a Navy Admiral or an Air Force General to remain fighter jet certified? Is it considered beneath them and they don't do it anymore or will .mil not expend the resources to allow them to maintain whatever required flight hours are needed?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Admirals and Generals are important for their leadership skills and cognitive abilities not high level perceptual motor abilities. Perceptual motor skills decline signifcantly with age.

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Originally posted by Scuba Steve Sig:
Is it possible for a Navy Admiral or an Air Force General to remain fighter jet certified? Is it considered beneath them and they don't do it anymore or will .mil not expend the resources to allow them to maintain whatever required flight hours are needed?

Yes, in some cases they do remain qual'ed. Adm Mark Fox (Mig Killer from Desert Storm) continued to fly when he was the Battle Group Commander; but I doubt he was allowed to fly combat missions regularly - Naval Aviation is a fast moving game - sure landing on a carrier remains 'the same', but it's a very perishable skill (even more so at night) - but the tactics, weapons, etc change at a very fast pace. So in the Navy any of them doing it are more for 'morale' reasons, for them and for the troops to see them flying (not like they really care).

For that reason pretty much any Navy F-18 guy you see doing ROTC or other cheesy non-flying or non ticket punching staff jobs have probably flown their last operational flight. They may soldier on flying in the training command or test pilot gigs, but to remain skilled and in the game you need to keep flying.

We had a carrier CO (O-6) who flew F-14s with us, but we wouldn't qualify him for night ops (he tried, but didn't have it anymore). I think he flew 3-4 times on deployment, day only training flights, including his retirement flight.