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

-----

𝘾𝘼𝙎𝙏

-----

𝙈𝙄𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙀 𝙍𝙊𝘿𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙐𝙀𝙕
𝘼𝙎
𝙄𝙑𝙔 '𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙊𝙎' 𝙈𝙄𝙏𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙇

"𝙔𝙊𝙐'𝙍𝙀 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙊𝙉𝙇𝙔 𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝘼 𝙂𝙐𝙉, 𝘽𝙄𝙏𝘾𝙃"

-----

𝙏𝙊𝙈 𝘾𝙍𝙐𝙄𝙎𝙀
𝘼𝙎
𝙋𝙀𝙏𝙀 '𝙈𝘼𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙄𝘾𝙆' 𝙈𝙄𝙏𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙇

"𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘿𝙊𝙉'𝙏 𝙃𝘼𝙑𝙀 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀 𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙆 𝙐𝙋 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀. 𝙄𝙁 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙆, 𝙔𝙊𝙐'𝙍𝙀 𝘿𝙀𝘼𝘿"

-----

𝙇𝙀𝙊𝙉𝘼𝙍𝘿𝙊 𝘿𝙄𝘾𝘼𝙋𝙍𝙄𝙊
𝘼𝙎
𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙊 '𝘽𝙐𝙇𝙇𝙀𝙏' 𝙍𝙄𝙑𝙀𝙍𝘼

"𝙄 𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙄𝙑𝙔. . .𝙄'𝙇𝙇 𝘽𝙀 𝙊𝙆𝘼𝙔 𝙄 𝙋𝙍𝙊𝙈𝙄𝙎𝙀"

-----

𝘼𝙉𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙉𝙔 𝙀𝘿𝙒𝘼𝙍𝘿𝙎
𝘼𝙎
𝙉𝙄𝘾𝙆 '𝙂𝙊𝙊𝙎𝙀' 𝘽𝙍𝘼𝘿𝙎𝙃𝘼𝙒

"𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙆𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙒𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙄'𝙈 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙆𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙊𝙎?"

-----

𝙑𝘼𝙇 𝙆𝙄𝙇𝙈𝙀𝙍
𝘼𝙎
𝙏𝙊𝙈 '𝙄𝘾𝙀𝙈𝘼𝙉' 𝙆𝘼𝙕𝘼𝙉𝙎𝙆𝙔

"𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘾𝘼𝙉 𝘾𝙊𝙐𝙉𝙏 𝙊𝙉 𝙄𝙏, 𝙈𝙄𝙏𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙇"

-----

𝙇𝙄𝙇𝙔 𝙅𝘼𝙈𝙀𝙎
𝘼𝙎
𝙅𝙀𝙎𝙎𝙄𝘾𝘼 𝙎𝘾𝙊𝙏𝙏

"𝘽𝙐𝙏 𝙃𝙀'𝘿 𝘼 𝙁𝙇𝙊𝙒𝙉 𝘼𝙉𝙔𝙒𝘼𝙔. 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐. 𝙃𝙀'𝘿 𝙃𝘼𝙏𝙀 𝙄𝙏 𝘽𝙐𝙏 𝙃𝙀'𝘿 𝘿𝙊 𝙄𝙏. 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙈𝘼𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙄𝘾𝙆, 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘽𝙍𝙊𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍 𝙃𝙀 𝙉𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝙃𝘼𝘿"

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