Cmdr. Cameron Yaste, the Commanding Officer of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), found himself in an embarrassing situation due to a photo published on official U.S. Navy pages.
On Tuesday, a post appeared on all official U.S. Navy pages with the text “from engaging in practice gun shoots, conducting maintenance, testing fuel purity, and participating in sea and anchor details, the U.S. Navy is always ready to serve and protect.”
One of the photos featured Cameron Yaste firing at the target, known as a “Killer Tomato,” during a gun shoot.
Several readers and commentators noticed that the rifle’s scope was improperly mounted. During the shooting, the Trijicon VCOG scope was installed backward, with its protective cover closed.
While there were other tactical criticisms regarding the shooting stance and technique in the photo, they were not as critical or humorous as the scope mishap.
Following public attention, the U.S. Navy removed the photo and issued an apology for the error: “Thank you for pointing out our rifle scope error in the previous post. Picture has been removed until EMI is completed!”
