Tom Cruise Awarded Top U.S. Navy Civilian Honor

Tom Cruise, known for his fictional role playing the world’s most famous Top Gun, has been recognized by the U.S. Navy and awarded its highest civilian honor for “his outstanding contributions to the Navy and Marine Corps.”

During a ceremony in London on Tuesday, the actor was awarded the Distinguished Public Service Award. The navy praised Cruise for increasing “public awareness and appreciation for our highly trained personnel and the sacrifices they make while in uniform” through his work in Top Gun, Born on the Fourth of July, A Few Good Men, and the Mission Impossible film franchise, per the Associated Press.

“I admire all of the servicemen and women,” said Cruise. “I know in life, something that is very true to me, is that is to lead is to serve. And I know that to my core. And I see that in the servicemen and women.”

Cruise, who starred in the original Top Gun in 1986 (it was the highest-grossing domestic and worldwide film that year), returned in 2022 for its sequel Top Gun: Maverick. Like the first film, the follow-up was a commercial success and grossed nearly $1.5 billion worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2022 and Cruise’s highest-grossing film in his prolific career.

According to the navy, Maverick “brought nostalgia to older audiences and reinvigorated the minds of newer audience members, which effectively targeted a younger audience’s interest into the skill sets and opportunities the Navy can provide.”

Cruise stars in the upcoming Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning film set to release on May 23. It is the eighth installment in the Mission: Impossible series.