Frank Ault
Encyclopedia
Captain Frank Ault, USN
(Ret) (1922 – August 25, 2006) was a United States Naval officer. He is best remembered for the classified study he led in 1968 that led to the creation of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, or TOPGUN. Disturbed over less than expected performance of Navy fighters against the North Vietnamese MiG
s in the first stage of the Vietnam War
1965-1968 in which the exchange ratio was at best 2.5:1, Ault was directed by Adm. Tom Moorer
, the Chief of Naval Operations
(CNO) to conduct a sweeping review of aircraft, aircrew, organizational, training and missile performance and make recommendations for improvements. The official title of the report was Air-to-Air Missile System Capability Review, but it quickly became known simply as the Ault Report
http://www.history.navy.mil/a-record/ault/sections1-4.pdf. Ault Field located at NAS Whidbey Island in Oak Harbor, WA is named in his honor.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
(Ret) (1922 – August 25, 2006) was a United States Naval officer. He is best remembered for the classified study he led in 1968 that led to the creation of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, or TOPGUN. Disturbed over less than expected performance of Navy fighters against the North Vietnamese MiG
Mig
-Industry:*MiG, now Mikoyan, a Russian aircraft corporation, formerly the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau*Metal inert gas welding or MIG welding, a type of welding using an electric arc and a shielding gas-Business and finance:...
s in the first stage of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
1965-1968 in which the exchange ratio was at best 2.5:1, Ault was directed by Adm. Tom Moorer
Thomas Hinman Moorer
-External links:...
, the Chief of Naval Operations
Chief of Naval Operations
The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...
(CNO) to conduct a sweeping review of aircraft, aircrew, organizational, training and missile performance and make recommendations for improvements. The official title of the report was Air-to-Air Missile System Capability Review, but it quickly became known simply as the Ault Report
Ault Report
The "Ault Report", or more formally the Air-to-Air Missile System Capability Review, was a sweeping study of US Navy air-to-air missile performance during the period of 1965 to 1968, conducted by Navy Captain Frank Ault. The study was initiated at the behest of Admiral Tom Moorer, Chief of Naval...
http://www.history.navy.mil/a-record/ault/sections1-4.pdf. Ault Field located at NAS Whidbey Island in Oak Harbor, WA is named in his honor.