Pittsburgh-area native works with real-life members of Navy’s Top Gun program
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Shortly before Memorial Day, veteran actor Tom Cruise will take to the skies once again as Navy pilot Pete Mitchell in the long-awaited sequel to the 1986 action blockbuster “Top Gun.”
But at Naval Air Station in Fallon, Nev., Pittsburgh native Amanda Taylor will be working with the real-life members of the Navy’s Top Gun program.
Petty Officer First Class Amanda Taylor, a 2009 graduate of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School in Moon Township, is an air traffic controller at the Navy base in Fallon, which is a few hours east of Reno in western Nevada.
More than a half-century ago, the Top Gun program was introduced with the goal of reducing Navy aviator casualties during the Vietnam War.
Today, the Top Gun program — known more formally as the U.S. Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program — is open to the top 1% of naval aviators, and those who enter are trained in a variety of areas including air combat, jet maneuverability, enemy tactics and more.
Taylor, a 2013 University of Pittsburgh graduate, is part of a group that works with pilots stationed at the Fallon base, where they support aircraft carrier missions around the world.
She served aboard the U.S.S. Gerald Ford for three-and-a-half years, and is a “plank owner,” meaning she was part of the ship’s crew when it was commissioned.
“We put a lot of hard work into getting that ship commissioned,” Taylor said. “It was delayed, and now it is actually looking like the hard work we did was worth it, as it will be going on deployment soon.”
The USS Gerald Ford is expected to sail on its first deployment this year. Taylor and others at the base are looking forward to it, as well as to the release of “Top Gun: Maverick” on May 24.
“I am extremely excited about the impact this movie will have,” said Vice Adm. Kenneth Whitesell, commander of the Naval Air Forces. “Much like the trend that followed the original film, I am confident that ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ will have a tremendous impact on our Navy recruiting efforts, which will greatly increase the numbers of brave and talented sailors among our ranks.”
And as those Top Gun pilots take to the air, people like Taylor will be supporting them on the ground.
“Serving in the Navy means training junior sailors for any given moment that we go to war,” she said. “We are training, leading and mentoring them to not only serve the country, but to better themselves and prepare them for retirement or careers after the Navy.”