“Top Gun: Maverick” is a love letter to American naval aviation and comes as the Navy faces the toughest recruiting environment in a generation. Faced with a dwindling pool of potential sailors, the service could struggle to meet its Fiscal Year 2022 goal of bringing in 40,000 enlisted sailors and 3,800 officers into the sea service. But if history is any guide, the sequel to the naval aviation blockbuster might not do much to bring in new recruits. When “Top Gun” hit theaters in 1986 and sold close to 3 million copies on VHS a year later, the Navy hailed … Continue reading Will ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Boost Navy Recruiting? History Says Probably Not