-
Petty Officer 1st Class Chandler Alexander feels the need, the need to lead in the TOPGUN training program. The Lumpkin County High School alum is pictured alongside his proud parents Steve and Casey Alexander.
Local TOPGUN graduate Chandler Alexander is used to calling the shots. Literally.
Because that’s just what the 1st Class Petty Officer does as one of only 20 weapons and tactics instructors in the elite Navy program.
“I don’t fly. I do combat air control,” said the former Lumpkin County resident and oldest son of Steve and Casey Alexander. “I direct the planes—tell them what to do, who to target. I help them win the war in the sky.”
On training missions, which are essentially a scrimmage between multiple fighter planes, he’s the guy telling the pilots when to fire away.
“Four aircraft will be in the air and I’ll say you need to shoot this guy, you need to shoot that guy,” he said. “...They can focus on flying the jet.”
For those who are unfamiliar with the high-flying program, TOPGUN isn’t just a Tom Cruise movie, it’s the actual name of the Navy’s fighter weapons training school also known as the Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program. Pilots, air controllers and radar and radio operators attend an eight-week training that includes practicing real-time-in-the-air combat situations with trainers acting as enemy pilots.
The school includes both air-to-air and air-to-ground components in its syllabus, but Alexander’s training concentrated on the air-to-air maneuvers as an air intercept controller.
And while he hasn’t met an Ice Man or Maverick, code names are a real thing in TOPGUN.
In fact while completing the program Alexander’s instructor deemed him “Wild Boy.”
“It’s just kind of self explanatory,” he said with a laugh.
Being able to work on real time issues and work on tactics was what Alexander most enjoyed about the training, he said.
It was also the most challenging aspect.
“There’s a lot of pressure not to make mistakes,” he said. “But there’s no better feeling than having a pilot come back in from a fight and say hey, dude, you really helped me out out up there.”
READY FOR TAKE OFF
Alexander said he always knew he wanted to join the military. In high school he was a cadet in the JROTC program at Lumpkin County High.
Former JROTC Army Instructor Ron Fugate remembers Alexander from those days.
“He always strived to do his best, to be a leader,” Fugate said. “He had good people skills and was always part of the team. He grew up to the program.”
Alexander joined the Navy right out of high school in 2013. He spent time on patrol in the North Arabian Sea twice, in 2014-15 and again in 2019-20.
“We had air craft from not so friendly places come around, and we sent air craft up,” he said, “but no fighting ever occurred.”
The training he received at TOPGUN prepares him and others for possible confrontations in the future.
Alexander, who is now based in Key West, plans to stay in the Navy and the field he successfully trained for.
“I expect to be traveling frequently,” he said. “You have to go where you are needed.”
In other words, there’s still plenty of missions out there for Wild Boy and his crew.