The US Navy has come under fire on social media for posting a photo online of a sailor holding an assault weapon with its scope upside down.
In an image posted to Instagram, which has since been deleted, Commander Cameron Yaste, captain of the USS John S McCain, could be seen holding the weapon, which also had its scope lens cap still attached.
The caption accompanying the photo read: “Whether it’s practice firing, maintenance, fuel purity testing, and participation in sea and anchor details, the #USNavy is always ready to serve and protect.”
According to a press release from the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, the captain had fired at a “killer tomato,” a Navy term for a target balloon.
Viewers were quick to point out his mistake.
One X user wrote: “The US Navy just killed him on Instagram” alongside laughing and crying emojis.
Another said: “Cameron Yaste of the US Navy (pictured left) thinks he’s going to dazzle 18 year olds and inspire them to join the navy with a stunning photo shoot aboard the ship, but he forgot that his telescope is mounted backwards.”
Mike Collins, a Republican congressman from Georgia, also weighed in on the photo, posting on X, formerly Twitter, a photo of a gun with the barrel upside down.
“The Navy’s new sidearm,” he joked in the caption.
In a report, the US Navy stated: “Thanks for reporting our scope error in the previous post. The image has been removed until the NDE is complete!”
EMI, which stands for “extra-military training,” is defined by the U.S. Navy as “training in a phase of military service in which an individual exhibits deficiencies, and is intended and directed toward the correction of that deficiency.”
“It is a true training technique to be used to improve the effectiveness of an individual within a command or unit by correcting certain deficiencies in the performance of their duties,” says the Navy .
According to Yaste’s official biography, he graduated from the Naval Post Graduate School with a Master of Science degree in astronautics before serving aboard ships such as the USS Bataan and the USS Hopper.
It says he also won several awards, including the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.
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