{"id":614,"date":"2026-07-16T22:45:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T22:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614"},"modified":"2026-07-16T22:45:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T22:45:40","slug":"pentagon-chief-backs-pilots-amid-review-into-us-navy-blue-angels-low-altitude-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon Chief Backs Pilots Amid Review Into US Navy Blue Angels&#8217; Low Altitude Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) &#8211; U.S. \u2060Defense \u2060Secretary Pete Hegseth backed the \u2060U.S. Navy Blue Angels on Thursday amid a review by the military \u200binto one of the jets flying at low altitude over a crowd in Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=612\">NTSB Finds Evidence of Bird Strike Before Fatal New York Helicopter Crash<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Video footage online showed a \u200cjet from the famed flight demonstration \u200csquadron flying close above a crowd at Pensacola Beach, Florida \u2014 sending sand and beach items \u2060flying during an \u2060airshow celebrating the squadron&#8217;s 80th anniversary and the United States&#8217; 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The \u200bBlue Angels, in a statement, said the incident on Wednesday was under review. Current and former officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said video of the incident raised safety concerns but they did not \u200bwant to prejudge any formal investigation without more information.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Hegseth came out in support of the \u2060pilots.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;The \u2060flyovers will continue until morale \u2060improves,&#8221; Hegseth said \u200bon X, in a play on words that appeared to reference a saying attributed by \u200bsome to a British captain \u2060about beatings continuing until morale improves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Later on Thursday, Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said a &#8220;flight debrief&#8221; had been completed and there would be no reprimands.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;That\u2019s the sound of Freedom!&#8221; he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Military aviation is closely regulated and flying at low altitudes can pose serious risks, given the limited reaction time pilots \u2060have. In this instance, the pilot would have had little time to avoid aerial objects \u2060such as drones or balloons.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=610\">US Tariffs on Brazil Are a Bitter Pill for Sugar and Ethanol Makers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;Aviation safety rules are written in blood,&#8221; Democratic Representative Seth Moulton said. &#8220;Glamorizing and excusing reckless behavior like this will only lead to more, until we reach the point where a horrific tragedy occurs because of brazen, careless rhetoric like this,&#8221; he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>This is at least the third time in recent months that Hegseth has supported pilots following potentially dangerous aerial maneuvers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Most recently, the Pentagon lifted the suspensions of helicopter pilots who flew low over the coast of South Carolina.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>In March, Hegseth said Army \u2060pilots would not be punished after flying attack helicopters near singer Kid Rock&#8217;s house in an apparent show of support for the vocal backer of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The Blue Angels were created in 1946 to generate public support and boost Navy morale by \u200bperforming aerial moves at air shows, sporting events and other flight demonstrations.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=608\">What Permanent Daylight Saving Time Could Mean for You<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>(Reporting by \u200bIdrees Ali and Phil StewartEditing by Rod Nickel)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><b>Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[8,60],"class_list":["post-614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news","tag-sign-in-to-manage-your-newsletters","tag-united-states"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pentagon Chief Backs Pilots Amid Review Into US Navy Blue Angels&#039; Low Altitude Flight - Office Moving America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pentagon Chief Backs Pilots Amid Review Into US Navy Blue Angels&#039; Low Altitude Flight - Office Moving America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Office Moving America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-16T22:45:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=614#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=614\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\"},\"headline\":\"Pentagon Chief Backs Pilots Amid Review Into US Navy Blue Angels&#8217; Low Altitude Flight\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-16T22:45:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=614\"},\"wordCount\":455,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=614#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/f5bf5cab2b627fd7bf3a13de50f05500.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Sign in to manage your newsletters \u00bb\",\"United States\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Top News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=614#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=614\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=614\",\"name\":\"Pentagon Chief Backs Pilots Amid Review Into US Navy Blue Angels' Low Altitude Flight - Office Moving America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=614#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=614#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/f5bf5cab2b627fd7bf3a13de50f05500.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-16T22:45:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=614#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=614\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=614#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/f5bf5cab2b627fd7bf3a13de50f05500.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/f5bf5cab2b627fd7bf3a13de50f05500.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":533,\"caption\":\"FILE PHOTO: U.S. Navy Blue Angels perform a flyover as the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary on Independence Day in New York City, U.S., July 4, 2026. REUTERS\\\/David Dee Delgado\\\/File Photo\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=614#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pentagon Chief Backs Pilots Amid Review Into US Navy Blue Angels&#8217; Low Altitude Flight\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Office Moving America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pentagon Chief Backs Pilots Amid Review Into US Navy Blue Angels' Low Altitude Flight - Office Moving America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pentagon Chief Backs Pilots Amid Review Into US Navy Blue Angels' Low Altitude Flight - Office Moving America","og_description":"US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.","og_url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614","og_site_name":"Office Moving America","article_published_time":"2026-07-16T22:45:40+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061"},"headline":"Pentagon Chief Backs Pilots Amid Review Into US Navy Blue Angels&#8217; Low Altitude Flight","datePublished":"2026-07-16T22:45:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614"},"wordCount":455,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/f5bf5cab2b627fd7bf3a13de50f05500.jpg","keywords":["Sign in to manage your newsletters \u00bb","United States"],"articleSection":["Top News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614","name":"Pentagon Chief Backs Pilots Amid Review Into US Navy Blue Angels' Low Altitude Flight - Office Moving America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/f5bf5cab2b627fd7bf3a13de50f05500.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-16T22:45:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/f5bf5cab2b627fd7bf3a13de50f05500.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/f5bf5cab2b627fd7bf3a13de50f05500.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"caption":"FILE PHOTO: U.S. Navy Blue Angels perform a flyover as the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary on Independence Day in New York City, U.S., July 4, 2026. REUTERS\/David Dee Delgado\/File Photo"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=614#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pentagon Chief Backs Pilots Amid Review Into US Navy Blue Angels&#8217; Low Altitude Flight"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/","name":"Office Moving America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/officemovingamerica.com"],"url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}