Dan Pedersen
Dan Pedersen is a retired United States Navy Captain, credited as being the leading force behind the creation of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School program known as “TOPGUN”. Military career Pedersen joined the Navy in 1953 as an enlisted mechanic. In 1955, he was accepted into the Naval Aviation Cadet Program. After completing flight training on 1 March 1957, he was assigned to VF(AW)-3 flying the Douglas F4D Skyray. In 1962, he reported to VF-121, the west coast Fleet Replacement Squadron, for transition training to fly the McDonnell F3H Demon following which he was assigned to VF-213. In February 1963, VF-213 embarked on an 8-month cruise onboard . After transition training to fly the McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II he joined VF-92. The squadron deployed on the from 3 January to 18 July 1968. In late 1968, Pedersen joined VF-121 at Miramar as a tactics instructor. In January 1969, the Navy published the Ault Report, which concluded that U.S. aircraft losses over North Vietnam stemmed in part from inadequate air-crew training in air combat maneuvering (ACM). The report recommended that an "Advanced Fighter Weapons School" be established at Naval Air Station Miramar under the control of VF-121 to revive