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Something I Did Not Know About “Top Gun”
I arrived in San Diego this morning from Seattle.

 

San Diego is famous as a major U.S. Navy city, but I recently learned something interesting that I did not know about “Top Gun.”

 

Many people, including me, associate Top Gun with Miramar in San Diego because of the famous movie starring Tom Cruise. Miramar was known as “Fightertown USA,” and it became world famous through the movie.

 

What I did not know was that the real TOPGUN school is no longer located there.

 

The U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School — the real “TOPGUN” — moved from Miramar to Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada back in 1996. Miramar itself also changed from a Navy base to a Marine Corps air station.

 

Still, even today, San Diego strongly feels connected to Top Gun culture. Fighter jets, naval aviation, and military history are everywhere around the city. It is easy to understand why the movie left such a strong image of San Diego in people’s minds.

 

Sometimes traveling teaches you things you thought you already knew.