Last April, I reported on the embarrassing spectacle of a United States Navy officer, Commander Cameron Yaste of the USS John McCain, being photographed firing a rifle with the optical sight mounted backward. That officer has now been relieved of duty over the event, prompting the question, "What took you so long?"
The commander of U.S. Navy destroyer USS John McCain has been relieved of his duties months after the service branch faced ridicule on social media for posting a photo of him firing a rifle with its scope mounted backward.
Cmdr. Cameron Yaste was recently let go from his position "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command the guided-missile destroyer," the Navy announced in a statement, without elaborating.
In April, the Navy posted an image of Yaste aiming the rifle with a backwards scope on its Instagram account with the caption, "From engaging in practice gun shoots, conducting maintenance, testing fuel purity and participating in sea and anchor details, the #USNavy is always ready to serve and protect," according to Stars and Stripes.
While the image showing Commander Yaste's embarrassing cluster-foulup has been removed from social media, the Marines are on record demonstrating how this is done correctly.
Some might wonder why this officer was relieved of duty for something that most would consider an embarrassing screwup, but there are good arguments for this action.
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Note that there is brass in the air. Commander Yast is actually firing the weapon while looking through an optical sight that is, embarrassingly, mounted backward. This begs the question: Has he ever even seen this sight before?
Anyone who is even remotely familiar with the use of a sight like this — no, strike that, anyone who is even remotely familiar with any kind of optical device at all — would immediately notice something is wrong here. But Commander Yast was either painfully unfamiliar with the U.S. Military's primary service rifle, or he realized something was wrong but proceeded anyway, to the embarrassment of himself, his ship, and the United States Navy.
This man is (or, more properly, was) the commander of a United States Navy warship. An optical sight of this nature is not usable when mounted in this fashion, leading one to wonder just what was going through this man's head.
Every service member is required to maintain technical and tactical proficiency. That means an intimate familiarity with the primary service weapon and any accessories, like optical sights. And when in command, an officer sets the standard; he should maintain the very highest degree of technical and tactical proficiency. The highest level of command I ever served at was as a platoon leader, but I took great pride in outshooting all but one man in my platoon in rifle qualifications, and that one man was a competition service rifle match shooter. That proficiency inspires confidence in the commanding officer; this shocking lack of confidence would destroy that confidence.
This relieving of command was perfectly justified. Sadly, Commander Yaste's Navy career is, effectively, ended; military careers can turn sharply on such things. But there can be no room for unacceptable proficiency, especially in a commander.