Topline
Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao announced Thursday there will be “no reprimands” for a controversial low-altitude Blue Angels flyover that whizzed past beachgoers on the Florida Panhandle the previous day, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested he approved of the display.
An F/A-18 Super Hornet belonging to the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, flies during a practice flight ahead of San Francisco Fleet Week, as seen from the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco on Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
Key Facts
Cao tweeted, “No reprimands. No firings. No problem,” on Thursday afternoon, adding, “That’s the sound of Freedom!”
Cao’s message came after Hegseth posted earlier Thursday on X: “The flyovers will continue until morale improves.”
Hegseth made his comment after the Blue Angels flew so low over a Pensacola, Florida, beach during its annual “Breakfast with the Blues” that they blew over umbrellas and chairs, according to footage of the display that went viral on social media.
The White House also defended the Blue Angels, posting an illustration of the Florida flyover on X captioned, “It’s okay to love America.”
The “low-altitude pass” was under review, the Navy said in a statement to multiple outlets, writing, “during an arrival maneuver, an aircraft flew lower than standard profiles, resulting in a disturbance on the beach that affected civilian chairs and umbrellas.”
Hegseth on multiple occasions has stepped in to reverse disciplinary action for pilots involved in controversial flyovers, including reversing the suspensions of eight Apache pilots who flew attack helicopters at low altitude over a crowded South Carolina coastline over the July Fourth holiday, after vowing to “fix the suspensions in a post on X, writing “Carry on, Patriots.”
He also intervened in the suspensions of two Apache pilots in March after footage of the helicopters hovering near singer and Trump supporter Kid Rock’s Nashville home went viral.
Tangent
Reports of struggling morale and an uptick in early retirements have coincided with The military has struggled with recruitment, retention and morale in recent years, starting during the COVID-19 pandemic and exacerbated by the Iran war and spending cuts. After a lag in recruitment that began before Trump’s term, multiple branches of the military have reported already meeting their 2026 recruitment goals, which the Pentagon has said is the strongest recruiting performance in 15 years.
Key Background
The suspensions of the pilots with the South Carolina National Guard’s Alpha 1-151 Attack Battalion were lifted Friday, after backlash from state and federal Republican lawmakers, including Gov. Henry McMaster. The National Guard described the suspensions as a “routine administrative measure whenever a flight profile is under review” and “not a disciplinary action.” In March, the two pilots who flew near Kid Rock’s home were suspended from flight duties as the Army investigated whether the flyover was in “compliance with regulations and airspace requirements,” it said in a statement. In lifting the suspensions, Hegseth said there would be “no punishment” and “no investigation.”
further reading
Pete Hegseth Unsuspends Air Crew That Flew Helicopters By Kid Rock’s Home (Forbes)
Army Launches Investigation Into Helicopter Flyby At Kid Rock’s Nashville Home (Forbes)
Hegseth Announces ‘Testosterone Deficiency’ Screening For Soldiers 30 And Over (Forbes)