In Nevada’s high desert is the Navy’s premiere tactical air warfare training center, home to the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center and its Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, known to the world as TOPGUN.
A 2015 Midwood High School graduate and borough son is part of the Navy’s finest aviation fighter training facility in the world.
Koraan Gatson is a hospital corpsman working with the Naval Branch Health Clinic Fallon, stationed aboard Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada.
As a Navy hospital corpsman working at the clinic, Gaston is responsible for ensuring that all patients, servicemembers, and their dependents coming into the clinic for vaccinations receive exactly what they need.
“Growing up in Brooklyn and with a mother in the Marine Corps taught me the importance of awareness, versatility, discipline, and respect,” said Gatson. “Values that have prepared me well for my job in the Navy.”
TOPGUN began 48 years ago with the determination of nine pilots, the skepticism of the government and almost no budget, as history would recall. In the early years it turned the tide of a losing air war in Vietnam, revolutionized military doctrine, inspired a Hollywood blockbuster, and attracted and trained the best allied pilots and air crew from all over the world.
Gatson plays a crucial role in the overall mission that flies more than 5,000 adversary sorties per year in support of the Navy and Marine Corp Active and Reserve fleet and replacement squadrons, carrier air wings and marine aircraft groups including the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National guard and Canadian Forces.
“Nowhere in the world does the Navy have the ability to train as we do in NAS Fallon,” said NAS Fallon Commanding Officer, Capt. David Halloran. “The Navy specifically chose NAS Fallon as the location for Top Gun and the Naval Special Warfare Tactical Ground Mobility Training Center because of the desert climate, mountainous terrain, and sophisticated ranges available in northern Nevada. Every Carrier Air Wing and Navy Seal Team is required to receive the essential training provided here prior to being deployed in theater.”
According to Navy officials, TOPGUN is highly competitive and exposes Navy and Marine Corp pilots to the most demanding training scenarios in fighter aviation lead by some of the most talented pilots in the world. Each pilot is hand-selected for air-to-air and air-to-ground training and subsequently, as a TOPGUN instructor.
“My mom served in the Marine Corps, my grandfather in the Army, my uncle in the Air Force, and I have a cousin in the Navy,” said Gatson explaining that military service is a family tradition. “I am proud to have received a letter of appreciation from the Veterans Administration in Reno, Nevada, for being a part of the first corpsmen exchange program.”
Gatson also said they are proud to serve at the center of excellence for naval aviation, training and tactics development.
The future of U.S. aviation depends on the Navy’s ability to achieve their vision for defeating tomorrow’s air threats with the support of the ground crews and pilots.
“Serving in the Navy is a unique way of life that includes accepting new challenges, taking pride in all daily assignments and working together with my coworkers to achieve our mission,” added Gatson.
