Airman Mark Tiu

Body Everyone wants to be Maverick. But in Top Gun: Maverick, it is Iceman who wears four stars. That’s no mistake. Calm, deliberate, and respected, Iceman embodied what the Navy needs in peacetime: professionalism, restraint, and consistency. Maverick, by contrast, was a problem to be managed: talented but impulsive, charismatic but risky. Yet, when the mission required a pilot who could do what no one else could, Maverick got the call.

Rules and regulations are written in blood. The 1963 sinking of the USS Thresher (SSN-593) led to major changes in the way the Navy conducts maintenance and builds ships.1 The Navy needed a similar adjustment after the 2017 USS John S.

The military has high standards, and service members must strive to meet or exceed those standards. Setting standards starts with the teachers and instructors in the educational academies that train noncommissioned officers (NCOs). Unfortunately, the current standards and procedures among Marine Corps staff noncommissioned officer academies (SNCOAs) leave much to be desired.