"We're Going To Lose A Major War": US Navy Deletes Photo Of Ship Commander Shooting Rifle With Backwards Scope 

Cmdr. Cameron Yaste, the Commanding Officer of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), was recently photographed shooting a 5.56×45mm M4 carbine with the optics installed backward. 

The now-deleted image and press release on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service website featured Yaste shooting the M4 with the Trijicon VCOG scope installed backward while pointed at a giant target balloon.

Here's what the press release said before it was deleted: 

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 ship is in US 7th Fleet conducting routine operations. 7th Fleet is the US Navy's largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with Allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific Region.

Here's how to properly use the scope...

The website Internet Archive saved a snapshot of the press release: 

Netizens mocked the Navy commander, and that's probably why the service deleted the image and text. 

Here's what the internet had to say: 

Yaste merely shows how the US Navy is unprepared to fight the next major conflict. Sigh...