Original subtitles

88 tower good morning, flight control 1-0.

- Looks like you went swimming. - Yeah. It's hot.

For the last six months,

students have been pushed to their limits in

the Advanced Stage of training.

They've been tested on their low-level flying.

Watch that rising terrain.

Strike bombing tactics.

Bam.

And their ability to attack and defend

themselves in aerial combat.

Whoa!

Tower 121 Takeoff.

Attention on deck.

Take your seats.

Most of the students have

completed the course.

Alright.

And are learning where they will

be stationed next.

Congratulations. You are gonna go

trigger down Zap.

Yeah!

One, two, three. Go ahead.

All right. You know where you're going.

Hell yeah baby, let's go.

If you make it through here and you get the wings of gold,

you are a great fighter pilot because we don't have bad ones

in the United States Navy or the Marine Corps.

But not everyone can celebrate yet.

For a handful of students,

including Austin Claggett and Carissa Meinster,

one test still stands between them and

their coveted wings of gold.

You all have shown that you have what it takes.

Congratulations, you have earned these wings.

They've already been through years of training

at this point.

I know that they are hoping that they will join their

friends who have already successfully completed.

But ultimately, they're on their last chance at this.

I can fail out of flight school.

Even this late in the game.

All the hard work will be for nothing.

[♪ upbeat music playing

"Lost in Love" by T. Baker and E. Lomax]

♪ Ba-ba-ba-um-ba-ooo ♪

♪ Ba-ba-ba-um-ba-ooo ♪

Nice. How are your flights going?

You know, we're so close. We're so close to finishing.

I've racked up four failures up to this point.

You know, if I continue on a, a track that's not good,

I could fail out.

And so the stress of being close to the finish,

but also the knowledge that I could,

I could drop the ball,

um has been keeping me up at night.

I can't seem to push off the stress.

It's just existing with it.

With the end in sight,

Carissa is also feeling the pressure.

I'm really trying to make sure that I stay

focused and finish strong,

hopefully be able to earn my wings and move on to the fleet.

When she first joined the Navy,

she had never flown a plane.

I didn't know what I wanted to do in the

Navy when I started.

I just knew I wanted to study because I always

have loved academia.

But towards the end, I realized I had to actually

decide what I wanted to do.

At the last minute,

I kind of decided on a whim, I'd like to give aviation a try,

and I was lucky enough to be accepted to the program.

She didn't know anything about it,

but yet she picked it.

And I, why do you want to do it?

If you don't know anything about it,

why do you want?

Well, because it sounds interesting.

She has always wanted to go the hard route.

INSTRUCTOR Power up

But from the first time I started flying,

I realized it was going to be a challenge unlike

anything I had ever done before.

CARISSA Hammer 2-3, in heading 145

Although not coming from an aviation background.

RANGE CONTROL Bullseye

INSTRUCTOR Yes, perfect!

CARISSA Yes, sir

Carissa has been a strong student

in all events except one.

LANDING SIGNAL OFFICER You're high

Work it down

She struggled with carrier landings,

one of the most important skills for a naval aviator.

Power

You're a little low

Really didn't like that one

She failed carrier qualification and

had to repeat all 13 of her tests to remain

on the course.

LANDING SIGNAL OFFICER Wave off, wave off

Foul deck

People come up to you in the hallway, and

they're like, "Hey, like what are you still doing here?

Like shouldn't you be gone by now?"

And I feel like there's this hill that you're climbing, and

you're like, wow, this is it, I can see like on the other

side, it'll be downhill.

And then you get over the hill,

and there's like seven more hills.

So it's been a really big lesson in getting back up

on the horse.

I don't think I've ever had to do that so many times

in my life.

It's a lot of metaphors.

Now, Carissa has one more hurdle in

the final test.

It is the most unscripted.

It is the most dynamic.

It is the most unpredictable of all of the events.

The challenge of head-to-head dogfighting is

to start from a position where neither

jet has an advantage.

Deploy every skill they've learned to

outmaneuver their opponent,

neutralize the threat with a hit called a "Fox 2,"

and conclude with a carrier style landing.

You are beak to beak with another plane, and you're

gonna cross 500 feet from one another at hundreds

of miles an hour.

From there, fight their jet as good as possible to

see if they can't get that first shot.

MICAH I'm at you six o'clock now

INSTRUCTOR That's a good shot to me!

We're moving so fast,

and it's not only the machines at their max performance,

but it's us at our max performance.

It is most definitely not a cakewalk.

It can be a little bit mind-blowing and

a little bit scary to think that we're gonna get

as close as 500 feet to one another,

and I have to keep myself safe, but also keep fighting.

All right, Rodney, you all have fun.

Be safe out there.

See you in a little bit.

Scrutinizing Carissa's performance in the

back of her jet,

Lieutenant Pruitt, call sign, Rodney.

Meinster is at the very end of her training.

This is the last phase.

You go out and you do a mission.

You gotta be able to come back,

be professional in the boat,

and land on your first pass.

So that's what we need to see here in this final phase.

In the other jet, seasoned dogfighting expert,

Russell Gogan. Call sign, Magma.

When you are nose to nose,

beak to beak with the other aircraft,

it's difficult for a student because you literally

just go fight.

'MAGMA' Clearance, Shad 137 flight of two

CARISSA Ready in front

'RODNEY' Ready in back

It's not lost on us how big of a thing this is.

If you don't follow your procedures,

you could do something potentially dangerous.

The training wheels are off.

'RODNEY' Radar contact

CARISSA Devil 1-1, visual

'MAGMA' Base, standby check-in

'MAGMA' Devil 1-1, set

CARISSA Devil 1-2, set

Three

Two

One

'MAGMA' Let's go, let's go!

'MAGMA' Fight's on, fight's on

CARISSA Fight's on, fight's on

'MAGMA' Coming right

Magma wastes no time seeking

control of the fight.

'RODNEY' He's turning into us, right?

CARISSA Yes, sir

'RODNEY' He's got a shot right there

'RODNEY' Get the nose up

To escape, Carissa seeks out a hiding position.

'MAGMA' Oh my God

Using the sun's glare as camouflage.

'MAGMA' I'm blind as hell on you guys

Before pulling a bold move.

With a sudden dive.

CARISSA I have him in visual, sir

CARISSA Fox 2

'RODNEY' Bullseye

'MAGMA' Got me

'RODNEY' OK, good

CARISSA Woo!

CARISSA Clear to land 137 flight

Carissa now has one chance to pull off

a successful carrier landing.

I'm going to go ahead and bring the speed brakes out, sir,

just to help our descent

120 Goshawk ball, 1.9 Tango 3

Roger, ball.

As with every landing, Carissa will need to

fly the ball,

positioning her jet precisely on the right

glide path to keep the amber light,

known as the ball, dead center.

But landing with the ball above or below that center

will mean that had this been a carrier landing,

she wouldn't have caught the wire and landed safely.

LANDING SIGNAL OFFICER Easy with it

More power

Power

More

Power!

Meinster was too low.

To a point where she could maybe hit the back

of the boat.

Very unsafe.

Unfortunately, it was just not satisfactory.

That was a really, really brutal experience.

It's just like, what have I done?

The truth is for Carissa, it may mean the end.

Unlike Carissa and Austin,

Steph Harris has had a smoother journey

on the course.

INSTRUCTOR You're looking good

STEPH Hammer 4 heading in

RANGE CONTROL 49 feet

INSTRUCTOR Nice, you're dialing it in

She's proven herself an excellent student.

- Wooo man look at this! - I know it's crazy.

- Look at this. - OK.

Topping the class in strike.

Hot diggity dog.

INSTRUCTOR Let's get a little G on the jet

STEPH Roger

And executing low-level flying

with great skill.

INSTRUCTOR Perfect, right there

STEPH This is awesome

If Steph does well in the next test,

she could be awarded the trophy for top performer.

But head to head dogfighting tests even

the best students to the limit.

There's this element of fear that can be restrictive,

whereas like when you're young, you feel invincible.

I think maybe being a little bit older,

I kind of have this awareness of how you can

screw it up and what that means.

And I don't wanna screw it up.

In her final flight,

she'll be flying against her commanding officer,

Commander Estrada, call sign Duster.

You could definitely tell that Stephanie was

more mature than maybe some of the other students.

And I think having that maturity afforded the

opportunity to be patient, uh, to be humble.

STEPH Mace 1-2 is up and ready

'DUSTER' Mace 1-1

There's always a balance between being humble

and having to be a little bit arrogant and aggressive

and a little bit,

I've got the knife in my teeth and I can handle

anything come what may.

You want that, too.

'DUSTER' 100 knots

STEPH Mace 1-2 deploy, hot right

'DUSTER' Three

Two

One

Fights on

'DUSTER' Be aggressive

Be, be aggressive

Duster has flown hundreds of

dog fights like this.

So, landing a shot against him isn't going to be easy.

'DUSTER' Come on, go for it

Instead of pursuing him,

Steph executes an audacious swerve upwards to

seek a better vantage point.

Leaving Duster dangerously exposed.

'DUSTER' Not my best

'DUSTER' Well that did not work out well for me

'DUSTER' No?

Alright

STEPH Fox 2

'DUSTER' Kill

'DUSTER' Nice job

STEPH Yes, sir

'DUSTER' You got it

152, welcome back

For somebody with kind of her background

as a yoga instructor,

you don't initially think that they're gonna

have a killer instinct.

So I was pleasantly surprised.

She knocked it out of the park.

Ready?

I did something that was very difficult and that I

considered quitting at times because it was so difficult.

So to have finally gotten my wings was a tremendous sense

of accomplishment and pride, for sure.

Thank you!

Alright

Steph can now look forward to graduation.

But Austin Claggett's future is much less certain.

Hey, there he is. You ready?

- Yeah, sure am. - All right.

Don't **** it up

Austin's confident, dynamic style

has served him well

throughout carrier qualification.

I've done 30 landings in the past 24 hours.

And the low-level events.

INSTRUCTOR Watch the deck

But in the early stage of dogfighting...

Knock it off, knock it off.

Rogue 1-1, knock it off.

...he broke the altitude safety limit,

known as the hard deck,

twice,

and his future was hanging in the balance.

Claggett unsatted his BFM flight for multiple training

rule violations,

as well as unrecognized deck bust.

A week ago,

I was failing my fourth event and, you know,

really felt in a compromised position.

His continual breaches resulted in a meeting

with Senior Command.

Sitting in order HFB is never where you want

to find yourself.

It's definitely a wake-up call.

If I keep this up,

I can fail out of flight school,

even this late in the game.

So I can't get complacent.

Claggett's personality is his,

one of his major assets.

Enthusiasm and passion is gonna serve him well.

But you do have to have it under control because

if you are over aggressive,

then you can end up causing harm to yourself.

- How's it going? - You doing alright?

- Good morning. - Morning, how's it going?

If I fail, it's my failure because

I failed in preparing.

It's me. It's my fault.

This final head-to-head stage will be his

last chance to show he can keep his

aggression in check.

'SPICY' Rogue 1-1, speed and angels left

Fighting against Austin in the other

jet is instructor, Natalie Walker.

Call sign, Spicy.

'SPICY' Rogue 1-1, good pressure

AUSTIN Rogue 1-2, all altitudes 2 niner 81

'SPICY' Rogue, 90 right. Go

Three

Two

One

Fight's on

AUSTIN Damn, blind sun

To get a visual on the instructor,

Austin deploys a 360-degree barrel roll.

Finally, he sees her below him.

AUSTIN Fox 2

He nails the shot. But overshoots.

'SPICY' What's going on?

No way he didn't hit the deck.

Knock it off, knock it off.

Rogue 1-1, knock it off.

AUSTIN Rogue 1-2, knock it off

'SPICY' Rogue, sets alt

Austin has once again tested the limits

of the hard deck regulation.

To try to keep up, I went ballistic.

I saw that, yeah. Skill issue?

Skill issue for sure.

If he has dropped below the hard deck

he may fail.

I don't know what's gonna happen.

You're never 100% sure that you passed until it gets

to the one-on-one brief with your instructor.

Have a seat please.

All right.

For you, I think you flew a nice steady state.

I like that you're being very aggressive,

uh, but I question whether or not you hit

the deck on that last roll because you're pretty

nose low and we weren't super high.

Do you remember what your altitude was coming out

of that break turn?

No, ma'am.

So make sure that you take a look at that.

Yes, ma'am.

Austin must check the flight data.

His fate will be determined by whether or not he

broke the 10,000 foot hard deck.

I scooped it out 20 feet above the deck.

Um... so that was about as good as you could get.

I'm glad we got it out.

It was fun to fly with you so thanks, appreciate it.

- Congrats. - Thanks, man.

Claggett did a great job.

He's a bit of an extrovert, aggressive, so he might put

himself into a situation where he kinda pushes the

envelope a little bit, but he did it.

He made it work.

After six intense months in advanced training,

Austin has aced the last stage.

Now, he can enjoy his final flight.

A solo dogfight.

INSTRUCTOR Rogue 1-2,

welcome to the squad, we have area 3

AUSTIN Rogue 1-2

Visual

INSTRUCTOR Rogue, break

I will officially be a Naval aviator.

I will no longer be a student naval aviator.

INSTRUCTOR Now you're just showing off

So, a very overwhelming sensation

and surreal.

Oh, that was a good move

AUSTIN Rogue 1-2, visual

I'm on your six

Fox 2

AUSTIN Rogue 1-2, clear and out

- Wow. - Yeah. There we go.

Got it.

Ready?

- Yes, sir. - Nice. Good job, man.

Thank you, sir.

I know that Claggett had a few downs throughout the

syllabus and bounced back.

You can see the time,

energy, and effort that he puts in to perform really well.

So I think he's going to bring a certain special kind of

energy to his fleet squadron and his fleet ready room.

Uh and he's gonna be very successful.

Following her last failed flight,

Carissa's commanding officer has decided to give her

one last chance in a check flight,

which he will take.

You got a lot of stuff running

through your head.

It's that constant cycle of showing up and thinking you'll

never be able to do it.

But I'm in a very unique situation, my husband, Ben, is

also a strike pilot.

So my hope, obviously,

is that I can earn my wings and go join him out in

Lemoore, California, so that we can work and live

in the same place.

Meinster stay with you only?

- Uh, yeah. - At least for the first.

For first one, theoretically.

Despite how much pressure there is to get through the

syllabus because the winging is really around the corner,

the importance of landing on a ship is one that we take very

seriously and so, if they don't pass, it's grounds for

dismissal from the syllabus.

Let's say you put up me and Meinster for an event,

but let's say, God willing, we get done today,

you can have a ready form plug to go in there.

You know what I'm saying?

Just in case things work out.

All right. Thanks.

Sounds good, sir. I'll start working on it.

Tomorrow, Carissa will fly one of the

most important flights of her career.

It's never ideal to have a commanding officer's

progress check because the stakes are incredibly high.

If it doesn't go well, you may have to come home and tell

your friends and family your loved ones,

that what you thought was going to be

a winging ceremony is actually not gonna happen.

I can see that Meinster is nervous.

I can see that the,

the stress and the reality of what is at hand is there.

But that's on her to get through.

It happens in the end within her own head.

I do think I have a tendency to be a bit of a stress ball,

maybe a little neurotic,

but you just keep working even when you

feel that way.

And that's the hard part is nobody can make you believe

that you can do it.

So you have to just keep trying.

Commander Estrada is observing Carissa's

every move from the back seat of the jet.

This is a make or break situation.

The stress is on,

from the moment you get into the jet.

Everything is being critiqued.

'DUSTER' Mace 1-2, break right

CARISSA Yes, sir

CARISSA Visual

'DUSTER' Visual

Fights on.

Mace 1-1, low.

CARISSA 1-2, high

'DUSTER' Mace 1-2, give me hard right hand pull

CARISSA Yes, sir

First Commander Estrada is testing

her dogfighting skills.

CARISSA Visual, out west, Devil 1-2

I have him in visual off my left, sir

'DUSTER' Put cap on the nose

CARISSA Fox 2

'DUSTER' Worked out

CARISSA Yes, sir

Meridian approach, landing 1-9 left

But for Carissa the real challenge is coming up.

'DUSTER' Take your time

Despite everything that had just happened over the

course of the last hour,

it may come down to the last 15 seconds of the flight.

If you freeze up and you're not looking at the right

things at the right time, it's a nightmare.

CARISSA I'm going to go ahead and bring the speed

brakes out, sir

'DUSTER' Copy

CARISSA Speed brakes extended

Lots of ups and downs with this.

She's been in flight training for two years and

seven months now, which is crazy.

Stressful. Very stressful.

CARISSA 137 ball

LANDING SIGNAL OFFICER Roger, ball. Power

Power

'DUSTER' Cool

'DUSTER' I just wanted to make sure we got what we needed

CARISSA Roger, thank you sir

She had everything necessary to a good job,

and I was happy to be able to pass her on it.

If she can take a lot of the lessons learned...

- Woo! - Woo!

...then she's got everything she needs to be

successful in the future.

She's a very capable pilot.

You trip, you stumble, you fail sometimes,

you have to dust yourself off and get back out there and,

and do what you're capable of, and she did.

I worked hard, I never gave up, and it worked out.

- Yay. - I'm so proud of you.

Everything that Carissa goes after, she always achieves.

She loves making us proud, there's no doubt.

Good job.

- How does it feel? - Really good. Wet

Welcome to the club.

Alright, Meinster here is gonna join her husband in

VFA 122 out in Lemoore.

It's huge.

It means we're going to be together again.

Yeah which is really exciting.

I'm just super excited at the opportunity to kind of take a

step towards what comes next.

Good job, everybody.

For the latest cohort of Advanced Phase students,

the course is over.

I think flight school over the last three and a half years

has really tested me to the max.

Physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually,

it's just been a challenge on all the levels.

The next chapter of their lives is about to begin.

I'm at the threshold of living my dream,

getting to fly F-35s in the fleet,

forward deployed with the Marine Corps,

that's the dream right there.

There's a lot of pride associated with getting to the

end and getting your wings because it's something

you've worked for, for so long.

There's also a great sense of responsibility

that comes with it,

a sense of like what's to come and how,

how difficult our future potentially could be.

You can read about love,

you can read about war, but until you like,

you see it, and you see all that it is,

then you really begin to understand it.

There's so many stories of soldiers or Marines

going into combat and wondering, am I gonna be able

to do this terrible, awful, hard thing?

I don't think it's something anyone should

experience, but it is my job.

I will make sure 100% that, you know, I'm ready for it.

Today, Austin Claggett will find out

where he will be stationed.

When I joined, being a naval aviator was only just

a possibility, and I'm very happy to have made

it this far.

Since I've been in the military, three and a half years,

I've been East Coast.

But my family live in California.

If I get F-18s, I'm not gonna cry.

Okay, it's an F-18.

You know, it sounds silly, but people matter.

I do want to be closer to them.

As we get older, there's never enough time.

We never know when might be the last time that we see

that family member.

To live close to his family,

Austin needs to be stationed at Miramar,

San Diego, California.

Hopefully, these drives are going to be through

the streets of downtown San Diego, very soon.

I would like my old life back.

Go buy a surfboard again and start surfing.

- Come on in. - How are you doing sir?

- Have a seat. - Thank you.

When we are making selections,

there are going to be several factors that

come into consideration.

Come on in, have a seat.

The first and foremost is going to be the needs of the Navy.

What spots are actually available?

Alrighty Mr. Nissly.

Sorry there's no Charlie spots available.

But you wanna go East Coast right?

Yes sir.

Alright so, that's gonna work out for ya.

My wife will love Beaufort. Thank you, sir.

This works great.

So you got family out in Virginia right?

Yes sir I do.

So this works out for everything?

It does, sir, thank you.

Awesome.

Alright, Mr. Claggett.

- Okay, guys. - Alright, and, well?

Well?

I'm going to Miramar, San Diego.

I got F-35 Bravos in Southern California.

- You did it. - I did it.

Oh that's so awesome. I told you, you could do it.

I knew it the whole time.

- Thanks mom. - Yep.

- Congrats big fella. - I'm very blessed.

They are all very proud of me.

But my mom's reaction, I can tell it's a,

it's a tough emotion for her because she's proud,

but she's also, she's worried about me, you know?

Which, she's my mom.

I don't, I don't blame her.

It's a hell of a squadron, man.

It's called the Nightmares.

Oh, I like it.

Yes.

He is willing to go out there and risk his life.

I'm very proud of him, but I want him to come home.

Yeah.

- Cheers. - Cheers.

- Cheers to you. - Thank you.

- Godspeed. - Godspeed.

Yeah. Big day. Really big day.

The official winging ceremony.

Oh thank you.

The auspicious event to celebrate the

graduation of the latest class of naval aviators.

There's nothing as rewarding as seeing a student who comes

in wet behind the ears and watch them grow over the

course of a year,

and then leave here with their wings,

ready to take on the next chapter with a

great deal of success.

Family and friends have been invited to witness

these students receiving their wings of gold.

Future Naval aviators, arriving.

Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you all for being here.

This truly is a milestone as we watch them transition from

student pilots to winged naval aviators.

I'd like to take a moment to recognize what these wings are,

where these wings have been,

and what these wings, you know, come to symbolize.

These are the wings that were worn by Neil Armstrong

in July 1969.

The eagle has landed.

These are the same wings bestowed upon

President George H. W. Bush,

the youngest naval aviator to be winged during

World War II.

These are also the wings that were worn by 31 naval aviators

who on the morning of June fourth, 1942,

found, struck,

and destroyed three Japanese carriers at the

Battle of Midway, changing the course of the war.

These wings are now your wings,

and this is what you're going to wear on

your chest as you go forward.

Wingees, please come forward to receive your wings of gold.

With these wings,

you are gonna have amazing days without

a cloud in the sky, and you're going to get to

enjoy the exhilaration of flying a

high-performance aircraft.

Thanks Mom.

I love you.

These are also going to be with you on those

dark and stormy nights,

hundreds of miles away from home.

You have earned them because you have shown us

the degree of professionalism,

humility, and the ability to not quit and

not give up on the mission or your teammates.

We've enjoyed honoring the top performer of the coveted

Golden Stick Award.

Captain Stephanie Lauren Harris.

Over the last year, we've tested them.

Seepe, don't ride the lightning.

Gotten the yelling I deserve.

We trust them.

Break right 3 o'clock high.

Fox 2.

****

Man, I have a lot to work on.

We've made them drink through a fire hose.

-Lost control. The jet's not flying anymore.

We have challenged them, and they all have

proved themselves worthy.

Because of that, congratulations,

you have earned these wings.

Got some new wings right here.

It's awful shiny.

That's right, I am a naval aviator now.

- Congrats, bro. - Thank you.

- Congratulations. - Thank you.

Very proud, congratulations.

It's crazy.

Are you, are you filming right now?

I am definitely proud that I didn't quit, proud that I

didn't make excuses, proud that I just kept

getting back up.

The end of this training is most definitely just the

beginning of so much more.