The commander of the USS John S. McCain, Cameron Yaste, and the U.S. Navy faced online mockery Wednesday, April 10 after the Navy shared a photo of the commander on its official Instagram account. The photo showed Yaste firing a rifle with the scope mounted backwards and the lens cap on.
The caption accompanying the original photo read, “Highlighting the amazing work of our U.S. Navy Sailors! From engaging in practice shoots, conducting maintenance, testing fuel, and participating in sea and anchor details, the U.S. Navy is always ready to serve and protect #readiness.”
Gun users and gun-safety advocates criticized the photo. They said it was embarrassing not only for Yaste but also for the military. Commenters argued that the photo demonstrated a lack of firearms competence from the commander of a naval warship and a Citadel graduate.
“It’s so bad it had to be done on purpose,” one X user commented.
Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., also poked fun at the Navy on Wednesday. He posted a photo of a pistol with an edited backward barrel, captioned, “Navy’s newly issued sidearm.”
Several social media users speculated that the photo could have been photoshopped or intended as a joke.
The Navy removed the photo and shared several others Wednesday afternoon, highlighting its crews in the Red Sea, Philippine Sea and Pacific Ocean.
The Navy also addressed the photo in later social media posts.
“Thank you for pointing out our rifle scope error in the previous post,” the Navy wrote in the comments.