All language subtitles for Top.Guns.The.Next.Generation.S01E05.Head-to-Head.1080p.DSNP.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-ALLEYESONME

[afterburner ripples]

- I have gone through that
flight 100 times in my head.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

INSTRUCTOR Damn it

SPENSER Oh ♪♪♪♪

- I really messed that up.

We're all talking about what
happened on that flight.

- Yeah.

- Like feeling the G’s,
like my brain slowed down.

INSTRUCTOR Yeah,
we should probably go home

SPENSER Damn it

- Just heard that disappointed
dad voice in the back seat,

and it just, and
it broke my heart.

SPENSER Man, I'm bummed

- I think there is
definitely a shock factor.

Yeah, hey, by the way,
you don't know anything yet.

SPENSER I apologize, sir

- The next phase is gonna
be the most difficult one.

We're treated differently.

There's intermediate
and advanced,

and we're in advanced now.

[♪ theme music playing]

[tower] 152 flight
clear for take-off one right

due for departure.

INSTRUCTOR Do we have
to turn these cameras on at all?

INSTRUCTOR Negative,
you should see the

red light blinking

INSTRUCTOR No red light here

INSTRUCTOR Well, I guess
it's just going to be me today

INSTRUCTOR
There we go, now I got it

INSTRUCTOR Get my TV time

INSTRUCTOR Looking pretty good.

[Narrator] The students
are at the final stage

of advanced training.

INSTRUCTOR Pull back, pull back

[Narrator] For nearly
six months,

instructors have challenged
them with increasingly

complex training missions.

INSTRUCTOR Take
the shot if you have it

[Narrator] Teaching them
not only how to fly,

but also how to fight.

INSTRUCTOR Fox 2

ANDREW No way

[Narrator] Now, two of
the toughest stages stand

between them and graduation.

They'll face the dangers
of low-level flights for

the first time and be
asked to fight head-to-head

against their instructors.

At these later
stages of training,

the students' performance
matters more than ever,

as their scores will impact
where they're posted to next.

- Every single one of
our events is graded.

So at the end of the syllabus,

every student is gonna
have a final score...

and we're gonna look
at those scores when we

determine where the
students are gonna go.

So the better you do,
the more likely it is that

you're going to
get what you want.

[Narrator] For Lieutenant
Junior Grade Spenser Neel,

the stakes are
particularly high.

[Justin] It hasn't been smooth
sailing for Spenser so far.

He's had his hiccups here
and there along the way.

INSTRUCTOR You yanked too hard

SPENSER Damn it

- Early on, as he was learning to
get through the formation stage,

that’s where Spenser really
started to struggle a lot.

- Damn dude are you kidding me?

[Narrator] Spenser's early
struggles in training mean he

will need high scores
on his final exercises to

get his first choice.

His dream is to fly the F18.

But where he ends up being
based is just as important,

not only for Spenser,

but also for his wife, Brianna.

- So when’s you’re next flight?

- Monday.

- Do you think you’re ready?

- Yea dude, what kinda
question is that?

We put Virginia Beach,
F18s, as number one.

Because I know that over
the next several years I,

there's a high probability
I am gone a lot.

What cheese do you want B?

- The provolone.
- Okay.

We don't know if we
want to have kids,

but then if she is
closer to family,

it’d be better taken
care of that way.

That's all that matters.

- Moose, do you want some pizza?

So in a few weeks we'll
know where we're going next.

Our top choice
is Virginia Beach,

that would be excellent.

Our families will be able
to come visit us more easily.

Pepperoni.

But there also is the, you
know we might not get that.

- I will do whatever
is needed of me.

[rattle]

[Narrator] For the first
of Spenser's final stages,

the entire unit has
relocated to California

for a series of low
altitude exercises,

only possible in
the remote desert.

[Spenser] You know the
first two days we got here was

sort of like a vacation
because we weren't on a

flight schedule yet.

So we were just hanging
out and just having fun and

then yesterday, the
schedule comes out.

It's like, all right, game on.

[overlapping chatter]

- Okay.

Obviously, big thing
all day today is first time

flying low to the ground.

- Yes, sir.

- When working with
troops on the ground,

in a troops in
contact situation...

[gunfire]

you might be called in
to do a show of force.

So, a show of force is where
you drop down low, go fast,

make some noise,
scare the bad guys.

[piercing thrust]

Did that quite a few
times in Afghanistan.

Taking an F-18 down to
200 feet and full afterburn

at 500 knots.

Right over some bad guys
is a interesting experience.

That is the real-world
application of low-level or

ONAV training.

[Narrator] In the
first of the two low-level

training exercises,

students will need to
navigate a narrow route

through the canyon walls
of the El Centro Desert.

They'll be graded on
their ability to fly low level

with precise accuracy,

but without dropping below
the 500-foot altitude limit.

It will also be a test of
nerves as they perform one of

the most dangerous
maneuvers they've faced,

inverting the jet to
fly upside down over a

jagged ridge line.

- Fear is intense.
Very intense.

- We’re gonna fly
500 feet at 400 knots,

and we're gonna go
through mountain canyons

that I've never been to.

Never done it.

And we’re gonna roll
inverted and go on the

backside of mountains.

We're going to roll off the
front side of mountains.

You should have fear.

I think having a healthy
amount of fear is,

is kind of necessary.

- Things don't just stop
happening in a jet, you know,

nobody's coming to save you.

You can't put your car in park,

you know you're in an aircraft
that's moving through the air,

so you have to be a
Johnny on the spot.

- The thing I'm really
nervous about is how the

jet feels and things like that.

But these are opportunities
that not a lot of people get

and its, well I'm
grateful to be here.

[Narrator] Following
Spenser into the canyon

will be his friend,
Captain Steph Harris.

[Steph] Spenser and I
met in Key West.

He's a great friend.

We bonded very, very quickly.

I think we uh think
similarly in some ways,

and we're like working on
ourselves similarly to be

better versions of ourselves.

[Narrator] Steph's dream
is to fly F-18s at Miramar

in San Diego,

the base made famous
by the Top Gun film.

She’s been a standout
student so far,

scoring top of her class
in the early events.

But like all the students
she has never flown this low

through terrain.

TOWER El Centro tower,
cleared for takeoff

[Narrator] Guiding Spenser
through his first run is

Lieutenant Commander Ballato.

Call sign ‘Champ’.

- There's gonna be a
valley appearing on our left

- It all kinda
looks the same to me,

but I'm sure I'll figure it out

[Narrator] One of the leading
causes of flight fatalities are

pilots flying into terrain.

So for their first
low-level run,

students need to pay close
attention to their altitude

warning systems to
ensure they don’t break the

500 foot limit.

SPENSER Just
gotta calibrate my eyes

‘CHAMP’ You’re fine
just ‘cause I know this is

your first time out
here seeing this

[Brianna] He does have
really dangerous flights.

I'm fairly confident that he's
gonna come home every day,

but there's always the
chance that he doesn't.

I try not to think of the worst
day to day because I think,

that would, it would just,
you know, drag me down.

‘CHAMP’ Gotta start
working it down to 500 feet

SPENSER Yes Sir

SPENSER To the left here?

‘CHAMP’ Yep, go left

SPENSER Yes, sir

‘CHAMP’ Let’s try to
do some terrain following here

like you’re
trying to evade a radar

SPENSER Yes, sir

‘CHAMP’ Easy with the pull

‘CHAMP’ Right, roll out

‘CHAMP’ Roll out

‘CHAMP’ So, I think we
started that turn a

little bit too late?

SPENSER Yes, sir

‘CHAMP’ I want you
to over bank to the right

‘CHAMP’
and over this ridge right here

SPENSER Yes, sir

‘CHAMP’ Pull,
pull, pull, pull, pull

‘CHAMP’
Pull down. Yep

'CHAMP' Roll out

'CHAMP' You
watch that rising terrain

'CHAMP' We're staying
level but the terrain's rising

‘CHAMP’ Get the
nose up, get the nose up!

[RadAlt alarm]

[overlapping tower chatter]

[Brianna] Every once in a
while like he’s a little later

landing than I think and
I’ll just send him a text

and when it,

when it pops up blue
on the iPhone I know like

he’s not dead.

[Spenser] That was pretty wild.

I felt pretty rusty.

[Mike] Alright grab a seat.

Oh. Sweet.

Alright welcome back, any
questions from the brief?

- Just felt like I was really,
in that whole flight felt like

I was just knocking rust off.

- Yeah.

- Like, even comms,
I don't know if you noticed,

like I would just pause.

Like, what do I
gotta say right now?

[Narrator] During the first
low level flights instructors

are primarily
concerned with safety.

For Instructor Ballato his
main issue was how quickly

Spenser was reacting to
low altitude warnings from

the Radar Altimeter or RadAlt.

[Mike] Initially,
first couple of times,

just not quite aggressive
enough to get the nose up when

you get the RadAlt going off.

So just remember
like that RadAlt if you

hear that tone going off,

like you always want to be
like instinctively reacting.

And you never uh want to
get complacent with listening

to the RadAlt go off,
because at the end of the day,

like that could save your
life uh if you get distracted

or something like that.

So just remember, like hey,

as soon as you hear
RadAlt just a positive G

to the point where we know that
you're uh, you’re correcting.

- Yes sir.

- This is your first
time doing this,

so I don't expect
you to be good at it.

That's the whole reason
why we practice this over

and over again.

- Yep.
- Okay.

- Thank you.

[sighs]

Good Lord.

This is the most demanding
and the most challenging

thing I've ever done.

You are never going
to be good enough,

and that's a good thing
because we always want you

to be better and always
striving to be better.

[Brianna] If he does
come home on a bad day,

you just have to remind
him that everything's fine,

you're in training.

You get better by
making mistakes.

[Narrator] If Spenser
makes it to the fleet,

he could be deployed overseas
for as long as nine months

at a time.

So where he and Brianna
call home, matters.

[Spenser] It does
make us wonder,

like do we want to have kids
with a career where I might not

be there very much?

So it's tough.

Uh it's a lot of conversations
and then a lot of silence

sometimes because we don't
have to talk about it we know

what we're thinking.

Having family close
would be great.

I'll do everything I
can to get us there.

Yeah. Yeah.

[Narrator] Next into the
canyon is Captain Steph Harris

to get her first
taste of flying low.

STEPH Mask on, visor
down and I'm ready in the front

[Justin] Stephanie, definitely
one of the more interesting

students that we've
had come through here,

just by way of a very
different background.

- Do you want me to aim
for like, the little gap there?

INSTRUCTOR Yep

STEPH Roger

[Justin] Having, at one point,
gone to India to become

a yoga instructor.

And that's not somebody
that you typically see joining

the Marine Corps and wanting
to become a fighter pilot.

- Feel that down through
the legs, through the feet,

pressing the palms into the mat,

really firmly pressing them.

Before I joined
the Marine Corps,

I was living in my hometown
and working on a farm.

If it hurts, you can always
come onto your knees.

And working at an
Italian restaurant,

like serving tables
and what I'm doing now,

sometimes it feels
like light years away.

I love to be outside,
I really love nature.

Sensation of the ocean or
the mountains or the soil.

There's just, yeah, there's
a frequency to them.

That's hippie.

Wow...

Sorry.

INSTRUCTOR Start
working your way to 500 feet

STEPH Roger

INSTRUCTOR See this
canyon coming up on the left?

INSTRUCTOR Go ahead
and get your nose in there

STEPH Roger

INSTRUCTOR A little harder pull

STEPH This is awesome

INSTRUCTOR It is
pretty cool, isn’t it?

STEPH Yeah, it's trippy

INSTRUCTOR There you go

INSTRUCTOR Perfect

[Steph] This unspeakable
sensation of flight.

There's plenty of poems
that talk about how special

and sacred of an
experience it is.

INSTRUCTOR So, this is gonna
be your ridgeline crossing here

STEPH OK

[Steph] Some people talk about,
"touch the hand of God."

It's like nothing else.

INSTRUCTOR Let's
get a little G on the jet

STEPH Roger

INSTRUCTOR
Perfect. Right there

STEPH That was so cool

[Steph] 400 knots,
ground speed at 500 feet.

It's just you can't,
you have to do it.

[Justin] Stephanie, she brings
a passion and a dedication

to being the best fighter
pilot that she can be.

She has done well
through the syllabus.

Not only amongst her class,
but across the wing.

STEPH That was it?

INSTRUCTOR Yep

STEPH Alright, I’m
going to climb off the route

- You definitely compare
yourself to the people that

you surround yourself with.

- In this later
stages like this,

we really are super
competitive with one another.

- The anticipation was harder
than actually doing it,

but it was good.

Thank you.

[Micah] How well did you do?

What do your grades look
like from that instructor?

What do my grades look like?

So that doesn't ever
go away at any stage.

[Chuck] You know, we
just got our, kind of like,

our scores back today.

And some guys here
did really well, so.

Did better than me,
I'll tell you that much.

- And there’s so many
different types of people and

so many different backgrounds.

[Steph] You can imagine,

like young ego
perfectionist never fails,

like can't show anybody
that I you know have a flaw,

when like we're all flawed
and we're all trying to learn.

- It's so competitive.

I feel confident in my skills,

but I also know that there's
guys that are better than me.

[Spenser] Anytime you screw up,

everyone's gonna know
about it and it might be

an ego hit that someone
did better than me,

but it just pushes
you to get better.

[tower] Extra 1-5, set your
tower hold short, runway 2-6.

[Narrator] The class has
completed the first stage of

low level training and
been cleared to progress to

the much harder Stage 2.

- Take off runway 2-6 and
get ready to rock and roll

from there.

[Narrator] Student
Marcus Figueroa performed

well in the first
low level flight,

but now the stakes are higher.

He’ll need to combine
the dangers of flying low

with the challenge
of precision bombing.

[Marcus] Very nervous.
Very nervous.

Some of the students like,

that went out you
know today and did it,

and they said it's unlike
anything they've done before.

[Narrator] Marcus's dream
is to fly the iconic F-18,

but he won't be
guaranteed that choice without

consistently high grades.

In the strike bombing stage,
he was marked down for

not flying aggressively enough.

INSTRUCTOR Damn it, my controls

MARCUS Your controls

[Narrator] Although
he eventually passed,

he’s determined not to fall
short of expectations again.

[Marcus] It's not
just about passing.

The worst thing you want
to hear is like, oh like,

we’ll pass you, but,

because you just know
that you're not amounting to

what you need to.

- You repeat it
the way I said it.

[Marcus] As a student who has
been on the chopping block

before, like, you don't
want to hear that.

You know, I think for me, I
refuse to go back to that.

[Narrator] For the low-level
strike mission,

students will be flying
against the clock.

They'll take off together,

then enter the canyon in
tactical formation or TAC form.

Because they are separated
by less than a mile

they will have to navigate
not only the canyon walls,

but also maintain a
safe distance from each other.

Once they make it
through the canyon,

they will emerge over
a mock enemy target,

where they will have seconds
to execute a simulated

bomb drop on target,

before their mission
clock runs out.

- Primary responsibility
is collision avoidance.

You can expect a 90
degrees turn to the left,

and then you're following
me through Star Wars Canyon.

[Instructor] Have you
done this route yet?

- Never, sir. I've never
seen terrain like this.

[Instructor] It's not,
it’s not scary,

just make sure you're pulling.

- Yeah.

[instructor] And just
don't hit anything.

[Narrator] Flying with Marcus
today will be his friend,

Chuck Kent.

[Marcus] He was in my
last squadron in primary.

He’s awesome you know,

he's a marine, marine,
you know, got the stash.

He has the bearing and
the haircut and certainly

the voice for it.

- I Joined the military
because I think America is the

greatest thing that's ever
happened to the world.

I'm totally bought
into that whole idea,

just how special America
is in our uniqueness.

And now I just have to get
through the training and then

hopefully you know getting
to fly F-35s in the fleet.

That's the dream right there.

- The students up to
this point have done

single plane low levels.

They've done strike,
and they've done TAC form.

So now we're going to take
all three of those stages and

combine it into one event.

- This is a very dynamic
thing we're doing.

And there's just inherent
risk because we have humans

in the cockpit, and
humans will make errors,

and sometimes it costs lives.

It’s one of the first
phases where we really

hold them accountable,

and they don’t like it
so they have to grow up

and they have to get on with it.

- Especially when they're new,

you will see how
nervous they get.

There is sweat just pouring.

- Take off checks complete.

- Hammer 2 up and ready.

TOWER 28013 Cleared for takeoff.

[Nathan] I've got mad respect
for anybody that climbs

in that thing and,

and takes off in it,
because I don't,

I don’t know if I could do it.

INSTRUCTOR I'm ready, you ready?

MARCUS Yes sir.

INSTRUCTOR Alright tac left

INSTRUCTOR Set 500 feet

[Narrator] Marcus is
first into the canyon.

INSTRUCTOR Entering point Alpha

INSTRUCTOR Here we go

MARCUS Hammer, tac left, 310

INSTRUCTOR So, you
got to say Hammer 1, 310

MARCUS Hammer 1, 310

[Narrator] Because
both pilots are focused

on the terrain,

there's a danger they
could be turning into

each other's path.

So it's critical the
students communicate

the direction of their heading.

INSTRUCTOR
Hammer, tac right, 030

MARCUS 030

[Narrator] Then stick
precisely to that heading

to avoid collision.

[Marcus] You can't see
the terrain beyond the turn

so it's off-putting.

I'm going 400
knots ground speed,

and if I take the corner and
there's a mountain there,

I'm gonna hit it, I
won't have the time.

INSTRUCTOR Ah,
you're a little bit long.

INSTRUCTOR About 2 miles

INSTRUCTOR So,
try and catch up to him

CHUCK Roger that, sir.
Coming up

INSTRUCTOR Take
the ridgeline that's right next

to the main peak

- Right off my nose, sir?

INSTRUCTOR Yep,
the one off your nose

INSTRUCTOR Chuck,
get your nose up a little bit

CHUCK All right, up and over

INSTRUCTOR Oh,
don't overbank that much

INSTRUCTOR You start
pulling down into lead

INSTRUCTOR you're going
to scare the ♪♪♪♪ out of them

CHUCK Roger that, sir.

INSTRUCTOR Out of the
turn, reference the target

- Hammer 1 visual.

[Marcus] Going over
the Salton Sea.

It's like, everything's going
so fast, and then it just stops.

INSTRUCTOR Put the needle
on the nose of the target

MARCUS I got 'em.

INSTRUCTOR Alright, here we go

INSTRUCTOR Hammer, attack.

MARCUS Hammer 1, off safe

[Chuck] Hammer 2. visual

CHUCK Got ‘em in sight

INSTRUCTOR Go

INSTRUCTOR Look at that

INSTRUCTOR It's like magic

CHUCK Hammer 2, off safe

INSTRUCTOR Alright
knock it off, knock it off

CHUCK Roger that, sir

[Narrator] After refueling
in Palm Springs,

the students have returned
to base for their debrief.

[Marcus] It was good.
It was fun.

I thought it was a lot better
than I thought it'd be,

for sure.

Yeah. So it’s a, I think
it's another yes for today.

[Narrator] Marcus's calm,

precise flying has
earned him high marks

on the exercise.

But Chuck will have to
have to wait a little longer

to find out how he’s done.

- Alright thank you.

Cake for these guys.

[Chuck] There's this place
called Sherman's Bakery up

in Palm Springs.

The maintainers really
like the carrot cake.

[Narrator] But the cake
was more than just a gift

for the crew, it was
also a test for Chuck.

[Chuck] It was a big,

heavy cake and the
feedback they gave me was,

you're a little too
hard on the pulls.

Just slow down your pull
rate just a little bit more,

and he said,

alright, we're gonna put
the cake in your plane and

the maintainers are
gonna be really sad if you

ruin their cake.

- It’s all about technique.

[instructor] Their grades
reflect how well the cake looks.

- I mean, it did the thing.

It looks good.

- I was trying to
be healthy guys.

[Chuck] You know, it got a
little squished here and there,

pulling some G’s,
but it looks good.

I'd eat it.

[Narrator] Now, just one
stage stands between these

students and their wings,
but it's one of the toughest.

- XO.

- What up? What up?

- Hammer flight, welcome.

[Narrator] More than 3 years
of flight school will culminate

in the final stage of
their Advanced Training

the notoriously difficult
Fighter Intercept.

When students will have to
go head to head against their

instructors in a dogfight.

[Marcus] The instructors, they
have 2000 sometimes 3000 hours,

you know, in these aircrafts.

So you're just doing
the best you can.

- Come on, Spenser.

[Narrator] Tomorrow's test
will be a critical opportunity

for Spenser to improve
his class ranking.

- Dude, why don't
we touch paddles?

- Uhh we haven't scored a point.

- Oh, yeah, you're right.

- That’s why we haven’t
touched paddles.

- We're kind of entering
the most difficult,

most dynamic portion
of the flight training

- Let's be honest.
The training wheels are off.

- Yeah.

[Spenser] Yeah.

[Narrator] There’s extra
pressure for Spenser to

do well in training,

he has a family
legacy to uphold.

[Spenser] When you
come through the gate and

drive to the left,

there's a desert camo A-7
Corsaire 2 up on a stick.

That jet's beautiful and
my dad flew that jet.

- It's Deja-vu being here
because I got my wings at this

very naval air station.

I threw bombs all
over the desert.

Because we had manual
sights, but that's okay.

The A7, I got very good
at them and I could put

them through your front door.

He was too young to
know my military.

He knew of his grandfathers,

who was a bomber
pilot in World War II.

- So my grandfather was
in the Army Air Corps.

He flew a B-25.

That is his bomber
that has my grandmother on

there in a very
inappropriate pose.

I think my dad is vicariously
reliving his days through me,

and I can't blame
him because if,

if Brianna and I ever
have kids one day,

I guarantee I'm gonna
do the same thing.

[Narrator] Spenser’s
father Harry served at

NAS Fallon in Nevada,

the Navy’s premier
training wing.

Spenser’s future will be
decided by how he performs in

the last remaining stage.

[Spenser] Almost
got a little stuck.

- Did you put your
dream sheet in yet?

- Yeah, I did it last week.

They give you a sheet of paper,

and on that sheet
of paper are five options,

and you can put down from
ranked one through five like

where you wanna go and
what platform you want to fly.

I did Virginia first.

Virginia F-18s,
and then Lemoore,

Virginia's number
one, obviously.

[Brianna] Yeah.

That'll be really
cool if we get that.

[Spenser] Well, yeah,
because that's where, like,

our family is,

so when I'm gone,
it's easier for you.

- Yeah.
- But we'll see.

Not a lot of people are
getting Virginia right now. So.

- Yeah.
- It might work out.

- When do they put in
their preferences?

- I think most of them
have already put them in.

They rank them one through five,

but I'll put down my Mom,

my dad are all there,

and I have a brother
that's in Virginia Beach,

I would like to do
it for that reason.

Like great bottom of
our considerations.

The consideration
is how well they do.

- So the best performers
get their preferences?

- The top, yeah, exactly.

- How's it gonna feel if
you have to deliver bad

news next week?

- I don't want to put anybody
in a position where they are

finding out not great news
in front of a bunch of people.

But hey, guess what?

Like you're in the service.

This is part of what
you signed up for.

- All right, sweet.

[Micah] Seeing the
new guys come in

in their dress uniforms,

you just kinda
think back to, oh, wow,

that was me at one point.

- When you show up here and
you see all these guys that

are at my stage
right now, you're like,

they must be so
good and so smart.

Then you get to this phase
and you're like, oh, man,

I'm still just trying
to figure it out.

You guys are going to
say good riddance when

I'm out of here.

[Narrator] Spenser has
completed his basic dogfighting

training and performed
well throughout.

- Thanks, man.
Appreciate it.

[Narrator] But the
final graded test called

Fighter Intercept involves
a simulated combat scenario,

a scenario his instructors
have flown for real

on the front line.

- I was lucky enough,

I got to fly 23 combat
missions um you know

into Iraq and Syria.

We were over the Gulf one time,

I'm flying a defensive position
to defend the carrier group,

and there was an aircraft
that came out to play,

potentially armed.

So, I was responsible that day
for intercepting that aircraft.

Go figure out if it was armed.

Well, we teach fighter
intercepts here,

it's the same mission.

[Narrator] Spenser's final
exercise involves him taking

off to patrol an area.

When an unknown aircraft is
discovered he has to identify,

then intercept the enemy.

This will be a high speed,
dynamic dogfight in which

Spenser must try to
out-maneuver the enemy

jet being flown
by his instructor,

to gain the advantage
and get a missile lock.

The test combines many
of the toughest aspects of

training so far.

Spenser will be
graded on navigation,

communication and his
ability to safely push the

aircraft to its
limit as he tries to get

the better of
instructor Stagner,

a fighter pilot who has
been dogfighting for years.

TOWER Ocean 152,
cleared for takeoff

SPENSER Clear for takeoff

TOWER Hammer 2

TOWER
Single radar contact 19 miles

TOWER Hammer 2, deploy west

SPENSER Yes, sir

TOWER The bogey
checks out hostile

SPENSER Hammer 2,
target single group

SPENSER I got ‘em

SPENSER Hammer 2, target hot

INSTRUCTOR 1 mile

INSTRUCTOR Come off the merge,

I’m off your right shoulder

[Spenser] We come together
in what's called the merge.

SPENSER Visuals

INSTRUCTOR Visuals.

[Spenser] So both airplanes
are nose to nose,

and we're coming
on to each other.

SPENSER I got ‘em

INSTRUCTOR Merge, merge, merge

INSTRUCTOR Hammer 2, break.

INSTRUCTOR Below you

SPENSER Visuals

INSTRUCTOR Keep that
pull coming right there

SPENSER Yes, sir

INSTRUCTOR Keep
the pull, keep the pull

INSTRUCTOR Hammer 2, visuals

SPENSER Chaff flare, chaff flare
(missile counter measure)

[Spenser] Success for me in
fighter intercept is to keep

the fight going
as long as possible.

SPENSER Keep ♪♪♪♪♪♪♪
losing sight of him

[Spenser] You want to try to
see what the other guy's doing.

SPENSER I’m blind

[Spenser] If I can’t see him,
it makes the fighting very hard.

INSTRUCTOR Watch your airspeed

[Justin] Spenser was so
focused on trying to maintain

sight after he'd lost it,

that he basically forgot
the most important thing about

being a pilot, which
is flying the plane.

[stall warning]

[beeping]

SPENSER Knock it off, OCF
(Out of Control Flight)

[tower] 012658

[Spenser] Lost
control at one point.

I literally couldn't
move my nose.

- Couldn't move your nose?

- So like, I went high,
he went down.

I, I had my nose
parked straight up,

and I was looking for him,
and when I pulled,

I put the stick in my lap,
and the jet didn't do anything.

The nose just
stayed perfectly up.

I looked at the airspeed,

and it goes 150, 140, 130, 120,

and just keeps going down.

So once it gets below 100,

you got to knock it
off because the jet's

not flying anymore.

And so I called it, and then
the jet just like fell over.

[instructor] The
thing starts hot.

- Yeah its one of those ones
where bleeding off super fast.

[Narrator] Spenser will
have to wait to find out if

flying out of control
has meant he's failed.

- Seat, please.

Let's see. All right.

Obviously, just you
by yourself out there.

This is the fighter intercept
stuff, a little bit of mistakes.

- I lost sight a lot.

The jet was not accelerating.

I lost track of it, and
so I just kept it there.

- But you called it,
knock it off, OCF.

So thank you for
calling yourself out.

That'd be a different
conversation had you not called

yourself out on it, right?

All right, man.

That is FTX complete.

You got any questions?

- No, sir.
That's everything I have.

[Narrator] Spenser had
flown an exemplary mission

to that point,

evading a missile
lock from his instructor.

This, combined with his
calm handling of the stall,

means he's passed the
flight and the final stage

of his training.

[Spenser] When you
check in, you see guys,

and they are ready to
move on to the fleet and

now I'm one of those guys.

I'm like, I am still so dumb.

I still have so much to learn.

But I'm also ready to
move on and I think my wife's

ready to move on, too.

So hopefully we get
to Virginia Beach.

[Narrator] Tomorrow Spenser
will find out if he's done

enough over the past six months
to get his first choice.

[Spenser] Right now,
I'm driving to Patching,

which is where we find out
which fleet replacement

squadron we're going to go to.

There's different options,
Virginia Beach is exactly where

my wife and I have been trying
to go for the past year.

- All right do we want to
know where you're going?

- Yeah sir!
- Fantastic.

Right, about face.

Ya'll can turn around now.

The selections are already in.

You're going to lift your stein,

you're going to see the
patch you're gonna go to.

You can toast each other
to your success or drown

your sorrows in the
bottom of your stein there.

So come on up.

On the count of three.
One...

two, three.

- Let's go.

[cheers and applause]

[Spenser] This career
path inherently has a lot of

sacrifice in it.

It's tough.

- Being a military Navy wife,

it's a lot about sacrifice and
trying to make the best out of,

um, what you're given.

- What's up?

[Brianna] Hey.

- We're going to Virginia Beach.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We're going to Virginia Beach.
Yeah. Yeah.

- Wow.

- I've been incredibly
impressed and very proud of

what Spenser has
been able to accomplish.

He's always managed to
dig down deep and deliver

when it really counted,

and so I'm absolutely
confident he's going to make

an excellent naval aviator.

- We were sitting at the table
and he finally put his patch

on the table

[sighs]

I breathed a
sigh of relief and said, yes.

[Harry] He will determine his
career through his performance

and I'm sure therefore
it's gonna be good.

So I'm proud of him as a son,

he has a lot to offer
once he takes the next step

into the FA-18.

He's gonna live the Navy
life that I wanted to do and

was not able to do.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[♪ dramatic music playing]

- If I fail, all the hard
work will be for nothing.

-He's turning into us, right?

-No way he didn't hit the deck.

- If I fail, it's my fault.

[Justin] There's not a lot
of forgiveness left

in this syllabus...

[tower] Power.

[Justin] ...For Carissa.

- Power.

[Justin] It may come down to the
last 15 seconds of the flight.

[tower] More power.

- That was a really,
really brutal experience.

[Justin] The truth is, for her,
it may mean the end.