On March 3rd, 1969, the United States Navy established an elite school for the top one percent of its pilots. Its purpose was to teach the lost art of aerial combat and to ensure that the handful of men and women who graduate were the best fighter pilots in the world.

They succeeded.

Today, the Navy calls it:

𝙁𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙒𝙀𝘼𝙋𝙊𝙉𝙎 𝙎𝘾𝙃𝙊𝙊𝙇

The flyers call it:

𝙏𝙊𝙋 𝙂𝙐𝙉

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𝘾𝘼𝙎𝙏

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𝙈𝙄𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙀 𝙍𝙊𝘿𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙐𝙀𝙕
𝘼𝙎
𝙄𝙑𝙔 '𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙊𝙎' 𝙆𝘼𝙕𝘼𝙉𝙎𝙆𝙔

"𝙄𝙁 𝙄 𝘾𝙊𝙐𝙇𝘿 𝙎𝙒𝘼𝙋 𝙋𝙇𝘼𝘾𝙀𝙎 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝘿𝘼𝘿 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙆𝙉𝙊𝙒 𝙄'𝘿 𝘿𝙊 𝙄𝙏 𝙄𝙉 𝘼 𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙍𝙏𝘽𝙀𝘼𝙏"

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𝙏𝙊𝙈 𝘾𝙍𝙐𝙄𝙎𝙀
𝘼𝙎
𝙋𝙀𝙏𝙀 '𝙈𝘼𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙄𝘾𝙆' 𝙈𝙄𝙏𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙇

"𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙍𝙀𝙈𝙄𝙉𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙊𝙇𝘿 𝘿𝘼𝙔𝙎 𝙄𝙑𝙔?"

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𝙓𝘼𝙑𝙄𝙀𝙍 𝙎𝘼𝙈𝙐𝙀𝙇
𝘼𝙎
𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙊𝘿𝙊𝙍𝙀 '𝙎𝙉𝙄𝙋𝙀𝙍' 𝙍𝙄𝙑𝙀𝙍𝘼

"𝙄𝙏'𝙎 𝙒𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙈𝙔 𝘿𝘼𝘿 𝙒𝙊𝙐𝙇𝘿'𝙑𝙀 𝘿𝙊𝙉𝙀"

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𝘼𝙉𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙉𝙔 𝙀𝘿𝙒𝘼𝙍𝘿𝙎
𝘼𝙎
𝙉𝙄𝘾𝙆 '𝙂𝙊𝙊𝙎𝙀' 𝘽𝙍𝘼𝘿𝙎𝙃𝘼𝙒

"𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙎𝘾𝘼𝙍𝙀𝘿 𝙈𝙀 𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝘼 𝙎𝙀𝘾𝙊𝙉𝘿 𝙄𝙑𝙔. 𝙒𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙐𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝘼 𝙂𝙊𝙉𝙀𝙍"

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𝙈𝙄𝙇𝙀𝙎 𝙏𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙀𝙍
𝘼𝙎
𝘽𝙍𝘼𝘿𝙇𝙀𝙔 '𝙍𝙊𝙊𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙍' 𝘽𝙍𝘼𝘿𝙎𝙃𝘼𝙒

"𝘿𝙊𝙉'𝙏 𝘽𝙀 𝙎𝙊 𝙃𝘼𝙍𝘿 𝙊𝙉 𝙃𝙀𝙍 𝙈𝘼𝙉, 𝙎𝙃𝙀 𝙇𝙊𝙎𝙏 𝙎𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙏𝙊𝙊 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙉𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙍𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙈𝘽𝙀𝙍"

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𝙑𝘼𝙇 𝙆𝙄𝙇𝙈𝙀𝙍
𝘼𝙎
𝙏𝙊𝙈 '𝙄𝘾𝙀𝙈𝘼𝙉' 𝙆𝘼𝙕𝘼𝙉𝙎𝙆𝙔

"𝙒𝙊𝙐𝙇𝘿 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙃𝘼𝙑𝙀 𝙂𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙄𝙁 𝙄 𝙃𝘼𝘿 𝙏𝙊𝙇𝘿 𝙔𝙊𝙐?"

𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙏 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙎 𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙊𝙋 𝙂𝙐𝙉 𝘼𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙈𝙎𝙀𝙇𝙑𝙀𝙎.