{"id":10498,"date":"2022-07-10T16:36:16","date_gmt":"2022-07-10T21:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/?p=10498"},"modified":"2026-01-31T10:45:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T16:45:23","slug":"how-a-top-gun-captain-converts-suffering-into-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/how-a-top-gun-captain-converts-suffering-into-glory\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Top Gun Captain Converts Suffering Into Glory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The movie, Top Gun Maverick<\/em>, is second only to another Top Gun maverick, Captain Charles Plumb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Top
F4 Phantom Jet\/Reuters<\/mark><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

About two decades before Tom Cruise catapulted into the silver screen, Charlie Plumb was trained by the late Sen. John McCain to fly the F4 Phantom Jet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cTop Gun started by accident. My buddy and I were wandering down the pipeline and saw they had F9s, which we had already flown during training. We would save a little gas at the end of each flight and work our way up the coast of San Diego and wait for the F4 Phantoms to come by. Until one day, there was a note on the bulletin board for my buddy and me to report to our commanding officer immediately. He asked if it was us who followed an F4 Phantom through an entire loop with guns on them the entire time because he was in that F4. He asked us if we wanted to go out again tomorrow and fight them, and that is how the whole Top Gun school began.\u201d<\/strong> Charlie Plumb<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

After 74 successful combat missions and just five days before the end of his military service, Plumb was shot down over Hanoi, Vietnam in 1967.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captured and tortured, Charlie turned his suffering into a lifelong motivational message for success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

A prisoner for 2,103 days, Charlie was held in an 8′ by 8′ cell before his release in 1973.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“As a prisoner of war, I was tortured, humiliated, starved and left to languish in squalor for six years. Try your best to smell the stench in the bucket I called my toilet and taste the salt in the corners of my mouth from my sweat, my tears and my blood. Feel the baking tropical heat in a tin-roofed prison cell.”<\/strong> Charlie Plumb<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

After Charlie retired from service, he published his story in a book, I’m No Hero<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He travels the world motivating folks everywhere to thrive and survive through any crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Charlie speaks, he asks folks to write down qualities necessary to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three big ones show up in his speeches as well as the new Cruise movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top Gun Survival Strategy #1: Instinct<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Charlie says instinct is a must. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instinct is everywhere in Top Gun: Maverick<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pete \u201cMaverick\u201d Mitchell (Tom Cruise) pushes the envelope as a nervy test pilot. Maverick must deal with ghosts from his past and his deepest fears while training young Top Gun candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His motto? Don’t think. Just do.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it’s a combat mission or a suffering marathon, the best survivors rely on instinct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No panic. No obsession. Simply lean into a crisis<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gavin de Becker, an expert on threats and violence, advises companies and people on scary risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He believes the key to safety is instinct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Like every creature, you can know when you are in the presence of danger. You have the gift of a brilliant internal guardian that stands ready to warn you of hazards and guide you through risky situations.” <\/strong> Gavin de Becker, The Gift of Fear<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Never underestimate your instinct to act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top Gun Survival Strategy #2: Adaptability<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Charlie Plumb always talks about attitude and adaptability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see it over and over in the Cruise movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw find a frozen hanger with an old fighter jet after being shot down in enemy territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They walk into the middle of enemy camp, start the plane and take off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesson: In a crisis, be flexible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quickly let go of the way things used to be and adopt tactics that work in the new reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment.” <\/strong>Charles Darwin<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Top Gun Survival Strategy #3: Faith<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Faith is deep trust in . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n