US Navy commander previously seen firing rifle with backwards facing scope relieved

The commander of a U.S. Navy destroyer currently deployed to the Middle East was relieved of command last week, almost five months after he was pictured in an official photograph firing a rifle with an optical scope installed backwards.

Cmdr. Cameron Yaste was relieved of command of the destroyer USS John S. McCain Aug. 31 “due to a loss of confidence,” according to a Navy statement.

“The Navy holds commanding officers to the highest standards and holds them accountable when those standards are not met,” the service added.

Yaste has been temporarily replaced by Capt. Allison Christy, deputy commodore of Destroyer Squadron 21, according to the Navy.

Social media scorn from image of backward facing optical scope

The Navy did not elaborate further on a reason for Yaste’s relief of command. In April, though, a photo of Yaste firing a rifle while looking through a backward facing optical scope was posted to the Navy’s official Instagram account, prompting a wave of social media scorn mocking the obvious mistake.

The jokes at the Navy's expense even came from other military branches, with the Marine Corps sharing a photo of a Marine firing a weapon with the caption "Clear Site Picture" to its own official social media accounts.

The photo was eventually deleted and removed from the Defense Visual Information Distribution System, although it has continued to circulate via screenshot across various social media platforms.

“Thank you for pointing out our rifle scope error in the previous post,” The Navy wrote in a social media post shortly after the original photo was deleted. “Picture has been removed until EMI [Extra Military Instruction] has been completed.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer John S. McCain has been deployed with the Navy’s 5th Fleet to the Middle East as part of the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group since April. Yaste assumed command of the destroyer in October 2023.

Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at MHauptman@gannett.com