Commander Cameron Yaste has been relieved of duty after being photographed with an improperly mounted scope on a rifle. Yaste was formerly of the USS John McCain, a destroyer carrying guided missiles that protected the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier based out of San Diego. He was relieved of duty on Friday, August 30th and could be demoted as a result of the blunder.
Users were heavily critical after the Navy posted a picture on its official social media channels featuring Yaste aiming a rifle with a backward-mounted scope a few months ago. The Navy eventually deleted the picture and acknowledged the error in a subsequent post.
Yaste’s mistake was noted by the Marines Corps who jabbed at the Navy by posting a picture of a Marine with a properly scoped weapon on its social media channels. Captioned as “Clear Sight Picture” the photograph was obviously a head nod to the controversial backwards sighted weapon.
The Navy confirmed that Yaste was dismissed due to a “loss of confidence” in his leadership abilities. It did not specifically state that the photograph was related to his dismissal.
Yaste was responsible for operations about the USS John McCain and will be replaced by Captain Allison Christy until a more permanent commander can be found.
The USS John McCain is currently deployed in the Gulf of Oman, helping to maintain the security of shipping lanes in the Red Sea from Yemeni-based Houthi attacks.
Additionally the presence of the US Navy in the area is meant to act as a stabilizing influence as the region has been under heavy stress since the outbreak of the Israeli-Hamas war on October 7 of last year.
Iranian backed militias like the Houthis, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas are but a handful of organizations antagonistic toward the US and Israel who have been provided with weapons and other support.