The birth of the F-16 began in 1974 with a performance request from the US Department of Defense. The F-15 was born out of the F-4's poor aerial combat performance during the Vietnam War, especially in close-quarters dogfights. There is a group of quite influential people known as the Fighter Mafia, including systems analyst Peel Sbury, test pilot Charlie Myers and flight instructor John Boyd, who believe that the F-15's research and development direction is not Incorrect. They criticized the F-15 for being too large and too expensive. The Fighter Mafia advocated the development of a lightweight fighter that was extremely athletic, cheap to procure, and capable of mass deployment. These characteristics became the Light Fighter Program (LWF), which began in 1971.