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Tom Cruise was only acting when he played a decorated naval aviator in the Top Gun movies, but the star was actually given one of the highest honors a non-military person can be awarded from the U.S. Navy.

Cruise, 62, who first portrayed Peter “Maverick” Mitchell in the Top Gun films, was recently presented the Distinguished Public Service Award by the Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro. The actor was honored for his “outstanding contributions” to the military during a ceremony on Tuesday, December 17, at the Longcross Film Studios in Chertsey, Surrey. The success of Top Gun was notoriously responsible for a spike in military enlistment at the time of its release.

The actor accepted the honor and expressed his gratitude for the recognition.

“I admire all of the servicemen and women,” Cruise told the people at the event. The actor also added, “I know in life, something that is very true to me, is that to lead is to serve. And I know that to my core. And I see that in the servicemen and women.”

Users on Reddit took to the comments section of a post with the news about the actor to share their thoughts on the Navy’s choice to give him the award.

“He PRETENDS to be in the military and gets a medal for ACTING…ridiculous…,” complained one user, while a second added, “Shouldn’t this be given to someone who has shown exceptional bravery or courage rather than giving it to an actor.”

A third user disagreed and wrote, “At first I thought ‘bulls**t,’ but he’s probably the single person who is responsible for the most recruitment to the navy.” A fourth chimed in and wrote, “Those two movies have done so much more for the US military (and being in love with your best friend) than anyone can really even gauge,” referring to Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick.

Cruise was reportedly in Chertsey, Surrey, filming his next film, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, which is set to be released on May 25, 2025.