The U.S. Navy has removed Commander Cameron Yaste from command of the USS John McCain. The decision follows a viral incident in April in which Yaste was photographed firing a rifle with the scope attached incorrectly.
The Navy cited a “loss of confidence” in Yaste’s leadership abilities.
“The Navy holds commanding officers to the highest standards and holds them accountable when those standards are not met. Naval leaders are entrusted with significant responsibilities to their Sailors and their ships,” the US Navy said in a statement.
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This move comes as the USS John McCain is deployed in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations, a region with heightened tensions due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
While the Navy didn’t specify any incidents leading to Yaste’s removal, the timing and his previous public mishap likely played a role.
Yaste has been temporarily reassigned to Naval Surface Group Northwest, Capt. Allison Christy, deputy commodore of Destroyer Squadron 21, has temporarily assumed command of the destroyer.
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At the time of the incident, official U.S. government social media accounts, military influencers, news outlets, sailors, and social media users mocked the now-deleted photo.
“Thank you for pointing out our rifle scope error in the previous post. Picture has been removed until EMI is completed!” the updated post from the US Navy stated.
“EMI” stands for Extra Military Instruction and describes non-punitive measures intended to correct an identified deficiency in a servicemember’s performance, according to Navy guidance.
Hours later, Other military branches posted photos to their social media accounts of Marines and soldiers correctly firing rifles with barbed captions to exploit the Navy’s recent misstep.
The Marine Corps, which operates under the Department of the Navy, titled their tongue-in-cheek response “Clear Sight Picture” in reference to the backwards-mounted scope in an Instagram post Wednesday.
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“Whoever posted this knew what they were doing throwing shade on the Navy,” one of the top comments read at the time of writing.
Stolen Valor, an account belonging to a website that identifies people who publicly lie about their service records, posted about the Marine Corps trolling the Navy on X, formerly Twitter.
The service followed up with a similar post prominently featuring a Marine from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) looking through the sights of his M27 rifle equipped with what appears to be a scope like the one mounted on Yaste’s firearm. The cap was visibly removed and the scope facing the correct direction to magnify targets.
“That’s a nice optic,” the official 15th MEU Instagram account commented on the post.
The National Guard joined in the ridicule, captioning their Wednesday post with the side-eye emoji usually used “to draw attention to something the user wants to highlight, especially in situations that involve drama and interpersonal tension,” according to Dictionary.com.
Anonymous seamen frequenting the Navy-focused subreddit debated whether the gunner’s mate on board or the Navy Public Affairs Office (PAO) headquarters should receive the blame for the “embarrassing” photo. They also poked fun at Yaste himself, speculating someone tossed brass casings in the air for the photoshoot and that Yaste did not actually fire the rifle.
Blog-style military news outlet Task and Purpose joined in poking fun at the Navy, juxtaposing the photo above an image of one correctly depicting a Marine shooting an automatic rifle and asking readers to spot the difference. Commenters pointed out the backwards scope and Yaste’s “chicken arm” positioning.
Even Not The Bee, the real news blog arm of the satire site The Babylon Bee, picked up the story, writing “the Navy quickly deleted the post and replaced it with this status in a massive L all around.”
Zachary Bell, a Marine who runs the popular Veteran With A Sign campaign and social media accounts, also bemoaned the Navy’s blunder on X.
“Maybe the ocean has different rules,” he wrote in replies to comments underneath the post on X.
According to the caption underneath the archived photo, the photo was taken on March 24 by the media team assigned to the USS John S. McCain, which is operating with the U.S. 7th Fleet in the Indo-Pacific region.
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“Cmdr. Cameron Yaste, the Commanding Officer of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), fires at the ‘killer tomato’ during a gun shoot,” the caption reads.
According to his biography, Yaste graduated from The Citadel and received his officer’s commission in 2006. He previously served as division officer aboard the USS Bataan, weapons and executive officer aboard the Patrol Coastal Crew Hotel, combat systems and weapons officer aboard the USS Hopper, and executive officer aboard the McCain.
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