In this video I talk with US Navy Captain Jim “Guido” DiMatteo about the new IWC Schaffhausen Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor”. Jim will explain you the difference in-between the watches/chronographs IWC Schaffhausen is manufacturing for and selling exclusively to graduates of the Top Gun classes and the the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor” that IWC has just launched and we civilians can actually buy. The watches in fact are the same, but the badges make the difference …
Looking for the video with the Top Gun watch? Please click here: https://youtu.be/pKZjrLVq21M
Top Gun conducts about three to four classes of twelve weeks’ duration per year. The course is designed to train experienced pilots and flight crews. It encompasses all aspects of strike-fighter aircraft tactics and techniques.
Jim told me: “In a typical , you basically have three players: the student, the instructor, and the adversary. The adversary pilots are professionally trained to be the ‘bad guys’. They not only simulate the enemy’s aircraft capabilities, but also the adversary pilot’s mindset and tactics. As an adversary pilot, your objective is to present scenarios that help the student to improve. For me, seeing them learn and get better every day is an incredibly rewarding part of the job.”
After graduating from the University of California Berkeley in 1986, Jim joined the US Navy where he began an unprecedented career. He retired as a and has amassed over 5,000 hours in five different fighter aircraft (F/A-18, F-16, F-14, F-5, A-4) in over 25 years of service, the only one in Naval Aviation history with this accomplishment. After graduating from the Navy Fighter Weapons School and flying in combat, Jim was recruited into the prestigious Top Gun Adversary Squadron. He accumulated more Adversary flight time than anyone in the history of the US Navy and Marine Corps, ultimately being named the Commanding Officer of the Adversary squadrons on each coast, VFC-111 and VFC-13. After command of his squadrons, Jim was asked to join the headquarters of Naval Aviation in San Diego, California, and worked for the Commander, Naval Air Forces (CNAF) overseeing the Top Gun Adversary program. Jim has amassed an extensive number of awards and accolades, including US Navy F14 Fighter Pilot of the Year for the RAG, the US Navy Adversary Pilot of the Year, the TopHook (for the best landing grades on an aircraft carrier) and the esteemed International from the United Kingdom. In 2018, he received his highest honor yet by being inducted into the for his Lifetime Achievements in .
