There's hope for me yet

Today, Jason Sigger of Armchair Generalist noted that the new commander of US Pacific Command, Admiral Robert Willard, is a naval aviator who had a small but memorable role in the 1986 movie Top Gun--he was the pilot of the "MiG-28" (actually an F-5 aggressor aircraft) in the infamous "watch the birdie" scene.

(Bonus, when the ship's CAG mentions a crew consisting of "Willard and Simkin". Is this an inside reference to now-Admiral Willard?)

Add this to the recent news that a former US Navy F-14 pilot and commander of the most recent space shuttle mission, Scott Altman, also starred in that very same scene--he's the pilot of the inverted F-14, and is the one who is actually flipping the bird.

So, see, I'm headed for great things (by the way, UNC Sucks):