Remember the Navy commander who went viral for his backwards rifle scope? He's been relieved of duty "due to a loss of confidence in his ability" ๐Ÿ˜ฌ
ยท Sep 4, 2024 ยท NottheBee.com

Did the internet just get the commander of a guided-missile destroyer fired??

Navy Commander Cameron Yaste was in charge of the USS John McCain โ€” a guided-missile destroyer that is protecting USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Middle East โ€” but was just relieved of duty "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command."

The statement didn't elaborate about why Yaste was replaced.

That's code for, months ago, he went viral after someone snapped a photo of him firing a rifle with the scope mounted ... backwards. ๐Ÿ‘‡

(Maybe that explains why he sucked at parallel parking the destroyer โ€ฆ)

The internet had a field day with all this, because nothing says "military prowess" like being the butt of every Reddit meme for a month.

Even the Marine Corps piled on, posting a picture of a Marine with a properly mounted scope with the caption "Clear Sight Picture."

Ouch.

At least the Navy had a sense of humor about all this. They posted the picture, realized the screw-up, and said, "Thanks for pointing out our rifle scope error ... Picture has been removed until [extra military instruction] is completed."

Yaste has been replaced by Capt. Allison Christy, whose first move was probably to mount a scope in public โ€ฆ

As for what the USS McCain and the aircraft carriers Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln are up to off the Gulf of Oman:

The Pentagon sent the carriers to the Middle East to be in position should Israel need help repelling an attack by Iran or other countries, if such a thing happens, military officials said.

On the bright side, with conflict brewing across the world, at least we're winning the meme war.


Follow Ian on Substack or X (@ighaworth).


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