"You want to know who the best are?" asks Viper in the movie Top Gun. At NAS Oceana, if you want to know who the best are, you go to the hanger with "Welcome to Ambush Country" emblazoned over its doors. This hanger belongs to VFC-12 (Fighter Sqadron Composite 12) Fighting Omars callsign Ambush. VFC-12 provides Navy and Marine aviators with dissimilar air combat training. They are a Navy Reserve squadron made up of reservist and active duty personnel. VFC-12 is one of the most sought after duty assignments in Naval Aviation. The pilots are hand picked, cruise veteran, Topgun graduates. Yes, the film makers of the movie Top Gun added a space between top and gun that the Navy Fighter Weapons School (Topgun) has never used.

  VFC-12 flies F-18C/D Hornets painted to resemble Soviet Mig-29s. They simulate threat capabilities and tactics of potential adversaries that fleet pilots may encounter.

  Ambush One Zero is currently painted in a CONA (Centennial Of Naval Aviation) heritage paint scheme. This paint scheme represents that of an F-6F Hellcat operated by VF-12 from the USS Randolph in 1945.

To see more photos from this shoot click here.