- The US Navy has come under fire after posting a photo of a sailor firing a rifle with a rifle scope mounted backwards.
- Sailor Commander Cameron Yaste was firing at a Navy target balloon.
- The Navy acknowledged the mistake and deleted the photo.
The US Navy has come under fire on social media for posting a photo online of a sailor holding an assault weapon with the scope pointing backwards.
The image posted on Instagram, which has since been deleted, shows Commander Cameron Yaste, commander of the USS John S. McCain, holding a gun, with a scope lens cap attached to the gun. It was still there.
The caption accompanying the photo reads, “Whether practicing target practice, performing maintenance, testing fuel purity, or participating in sea and anchor details, #USNavy is always ready to serve and protect.” Ta.
According to a press release from the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, the captain was firing at a “killer tomato,” Navy term for a target balloon.
Viewers were quick to point out his mistake.
“The US Navy is just killing it on Instagram,” one X user wrote, along with laughing and crying emojis.
Another said: “Cameron Yaste (pictured left) of the US Navy was hoping to lure 18-year-olds into joining the Navy with a cool photo shoot on board his ship, but the scope turned the other way. I forgot it was attached,” he said.
Georgia Republican Rep. Mike Collins also weighed in on the photo, posting a photo of a pistol with the barrel upside down on X (formerly Twitter).
“Newly issued rifle by the Navy,” he joked in the caption.
In the statement, The US Navy said, “Thank you for pointing out the rifle scope mistake in the previous post. Photo has been removed until EMI is completed!”
EMI, which stands for “additional military instruction,” is defined by the U.S. Navy as “instruction at a stage of a military mission in which an individual has a defect and is directed to correct the defect.”
“This is a genuine training technique used to improve the effectiveness of individuals within a command or unit by correcting deficiencies in the individual's mission performance,” the Navy said.
According to Yaste's official biography, he graduated from Naval Post Graduate School with a master's degree in astronautics and went on to serve on ships such as the USS Bataan and the USS Hopper.
He has also received several awards, including the National Defense Medal.
