Alright I have to say it. I served in the US Navy as a Submariner, I went in well after Top Gun was in theaters and I this past May I would have been in for 30 years if I hadn't been asked to retire some time ago. A guy I went to boot camp with who went from E-1 to O-5 (one rank below Maverick at the start of the movie) had to retire last year because the Navy said that even at that rank 30 years was enough. Another friend of mine who did the E-1 to O-6 trip will be getting out soon if he doesn't make O-7 because with 30+ years in the Navy if you aren't a Master Chief or an Admiral you have hit "High Year Tenure" and it is time to move on from the military. For someone, even someone that is in elite athlete condition when they join the military, to last over 40 years in a combat roll is unheard of. Even the most no load Movies Mattress and Meals Master Chiefs on my boat were broken men by the time they hit 30 years, these were guys that were in fairly elite units in Vietnam who wore some impressive hardware beyond the dolphins on their chests. They were not loose cannons, they did not talk back, even though they more than earned that right. My point is this, Maverick would have put out to pasture back around the turn of the century if he even made it that long, guys like that either get asked to leave or find out there is always someone better out there. They have to live with knowing they aren't the best for the rest of their lives, all 5 to 8 seconds of it. For me this rates right up there with JAG not reviewing rental and divorce agreements, and NCIS not using nonexistent evidence to charge people with drug use. But sure, you go on and believe that someone can do a job that stressful and physically demanding for almost 40 years.
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