Hegseth is No (Blue) Angel

The response to a beach flyover shows the best of the military and the worst of the defense secretary.

Captain Bryan Adam speaks about the incident.

Last week, a Blue Angels jet buzzed a crowded beach in Pensacola, Florida. Typically the Navy’s elite flight-demonstration squadron does not fly lower than 500 feet over people on the ground. In this case, the jet was probably less than 100 feet from the beachgoers.

Normally the leadership of the Defense Department would have nothing to say about a breach of flight rules, leaving the handling of the incident to the Navy chain of command. But for the frat-boys running the Defense Department—which they insist on referring to as, heh-heh, the War Department—it has become a point of pride to allow dangerous flyovers.

Pete Hegseth & Co. somehow see these stunts as a sign of support for MAGA, probably because the first such incident occurred when two Army AH-64 Apache helicopters hovered over the Tennessee mansion of Trump supporter Kid Rock. Then on July 4, South Carolina National Guard helicopters flew low over a beach in that state.

In both cases, the military chain of command tried to suspend the pilots, and in both cases Hegseth foolishly overruled them, writing on social media, “Carry on Patriots”—“patriots” being a synonym in this administration for “Trump supporters.” (Administration critics are routinely derided as traitors or Communists.)

The Blue Angels mishap followed the familiar pattern. Just one day after the incident occurred—i.e., not enough time to conduct a serious investigation—Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao posted on X: “Flight debrief complete. No reprimands. No firings. No problem. That’s the sound of Freedom! Semper fi and Hooyah.” Hegseth’s spokesman Sean Parnell weighed in: “Carry on Patriots.” Hegseth himself joined the rah-rah chorus, writing on X, “The flyovers will continue until morale improves.” Naturally various MAGA cheerleaders offered their dittos.

So far, nothing surprising. But what has been heartening to see is that the Blue Angels themselves don’t take this blasé attitude. The unit commander, Captain Adam Bryan, told reporters: "The pilot found himself, unfortunately, in a situation that we would deem unsafe over the beach. We never intend to fly over the crowd that low, and we'll heavily debrief it to ensure that, one, we continue on with safe flight demonstrations, and that we learn from those different things that happen."

The pilot who made the low-level pass reportedly told Florida State Representative Michelle Salzman, a Republican and Army veteran, that the maneuver was not deliberate and that he was “shaken by what happened.” He said he “didn’t make excuses” or “try to shift blame,” and that he’s been carrying a “weight” since it happened.

The reaction of the pilot and his commander are what you would expect from responsible military officers who understand the imperatives of maintaining flight safety and following regulations. The reaction of Hegseth & Co., by contrast, is a disgrace. It shows that at the top of the Defense Department are leaders who prioritize social media “hits” and “owning the libs” over maintaining the apolitical professionalism that has made the U.S. military the envy the of the world.

Hegseth is sending the worst possible signal to pilots who are always prone to hot-dog stunts anyway. One of these days, one of these unsafe maneuvers will result in an accident and possible loss of life. When that happens, who will Hegseth blame? Antifa infiltrators? If only the leader of the Defense Department had a tenth of the humility, self-awareness, and professionalism of the Blue Angels.